Save Me
by Hotchsbabewriter
Summary: Hotch is married to Haley but he isn't happy, Haley has cheated on him once already and the only thing that keeps them together is Jack. When Haley betrays him again, instead of being heartbroken he is relief, not only their marriage was broken already but he is in love with Emily. Will Haley let him be happy with her or will she ruin his happiness with the woman he really loves?.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Unhappiness

The flight back to Quantico was smooth, it was very late at night and most of the team was sleeping. It had been a very long week and a very dreadful case, but again, most of their cases were. Hotch's head was leaning against the window of the plane, and he was exhausted…his entire body was in so much pain, but he couldn't get comfortable. Of course, he had just been shot and that would justify the pain, but it still felt like he had been run over by a train. He knew he was going to get his ass chewed by Section Chief Erin Strauss for the way he had handled the case, as well as the outcome. It had not been a bad outcome since they had saved the victim, and the unsub was now behind bars, but to get there, Hotch had to break a couple of rules and even violate certain protocols…nothing that could get him fired, but he would definitely be hearing from Strauss, he knew that for a fact. Hotch had gone after the unsub with no Kevlar on, and he had been shot; he could have died, but he was lucky and the bullet hit his arm, and now his arm was in a sling.

But, the case was done and he got to spend some time with Jack. That was the part that made it worthwhile for him…his son and his son's happiness. Jack was only three years old, and he was the best thing that had ever happened to him, despite the status of his marriage. Jack was his entire happiness, and Hotch was definitely looking forward to spending some time with Jack. He tried to relax on the plane, but he hadn't been able to with so many different things whirling through his mind at once. Hotch reflected back to his life ten years ago…he though he had it all, a perfect job, a life he really wanted, and he had just gotten married to his high school sweetheart, the woman his family thought was the perfect woman for him. He had basically done everything by the book, the way he was supposed to, then why was it that ten years later, here he was, wondering if he had made the right decisions in his life, wondering if maybe he had made a mistake. He was so lost in thought he almost didn't hear when someone brought him back from his thoughts.

"I would have thought that whatever that was the EMT's gave you would have you knocked you out by now." The brunette said, as she placed the hot cup of tea in front of him. Hotch smiled lightly.

"Drugs aren't the same as they used to be when the Beatles were around, fun old times." He laughed at his own joke and watched as the brunette laughed gently, too.

"Aaron Hotchner does have a sense of humor, or maybe it's the drugs?" Emily smiled, joking.

Hotch laughed as he picked up the cup of tea she placed in front of him, sipping at it gently.

"Did you put anything in it?" He teased, as the soothing liquid warmed the inside of his body.

"No, I can't drug you and have my wicked way you in a plane full of people, maybe some other time." She winked at him.

"Thanks." He said laughing, as he drank more of the hot tea.

"What are you doing up, everyone else is out like a light?" Hotch asked, as his eyes scanned around the plane. His entire team was sleeping peacefully. Reid was curled up next to JJ, his head against her elbow, and they kind of looked cute. Morgan was in another seat with his headphones still on, but he, too, was sound sleep. Rossi was in the longer seat, a book in his lap and his head against the window, too; he seemed peaceful while he slept. Everyone was sleeping, everyone but her…Emily, too, turned around to glance at everyone.

"I couldn't sleep; I was worried about you." She said, smiling gently.

"You need to stop worrying about me and everyone else, Em…you worry too much, that's not good for you, sometimes you overcompensate too much."

"Excuse me, that's called being a good friend." Emily said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Okay, so who takes care of you?" He asked, smiling at her gently.

"I do, I don't need anyone to take care of me, and I have Sergio, I'm all good to go." She said, drinking her own tea.

"Yeah, like that fur ball is going to protect you anyway." Hotch joked.

"Hey, what's your problem with my cat, he's nicer than you, and he smells better than you." She laughed, throwing a small pillow at him playfully.

"I can't believe you're comparing me to a feline." Hotch said, as if he was offended, joking with her.

"That's what you get for being mean to my cat, I don't even know why you hate him, he has done nothing to you." Emily reproached him.

"I don't hate him, I'm just not too fond of him." Hotch smiled, it was good to laugh and forget about life for a moment, and that was something he could do with Emily.

They were good friends; they had been for a while, but when she first started the relationship was icy between them then she proved her self with everyone, and she ended up being one of the most efficient agents he had. She was so good to everyone, it was almost like she was the glue that held everyone together, they all loved her in their own way. Emily was an excellent friend for JJ and Garcia, and she was always there when they needed her the most. To Morgan and Reid, she was like a sister, she always knew exactly what to say and when to say it. They all looked after her, it was like she was that one person they could all talk to and be themselves; Hotch sometimes believed she was some sort of angel that was sent to keep them together as a family, she was not afraid to even put them in their place, even him and Rossi. She was just great with everyone. She had become a really good friend for him, someone he could talk to and not be this emotionless robot he sometimes was. Someone that saw him as a human being and who he really was, and for that he was grateful. Dave was his best friend, but sometimes there were some things he couldn't even tell Rossi, but he could tell Emily.

"Are you ok." She asked, suddenly looking at the sling on his arm.

"I'm okay, it doesn't hurt much." But she shook her head angrily.

Sometimes I just want to hit you, Hotch, I swear you can be so stupid and reckless I just want to shoot you." She said angrily.

"Well, someone beat you to it." He teased.

"You are not funny, and I'm angry at you, you could have gotten seriously hurt." She said sadly.

"I'm fine, Prentiss, stop acting like my mom and chill, I'm good, I promise you." He said, squeezing her hand and smiling at her.

"Go to sleep and try to rest. I'll let you know when we land." She said, covering him up with a blanket.

"All right, mom, good night." He smiled and watched the brunette walked away.

By the time Aaron got to his house it was almost ten; he was exhausted and everything hurt…he knew Jack was asleep, so he carefully walked inside the house and left his briefcase in the chair by the door. He went upstairs and kissed his son goodnight, then went into his room…Haley was still up and by the look on her face, she was pissed again.

"I thought you were going to be home earlier." She scolded him the second he walked into the room.

"I know, I'm sorry, there was a little incident." He said, showing her the sling on his arm.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Nothing bad, don't worry, it's nothing." Aaron said, tiredly going into the closet for his pajamas.

"God, Aaron, you are injured now, are you doing to be able to take care of Jack tomorrow?" She asked angrily. Aaron just stood there looking at her, not that he really expected her to worry about him, but not even an "are you okay" came out of her mouth.

"Goddammit, Aaron, you promised, I have plans with the girls tomorrow, I need some time for myself, too, you know." She spat angrily.

"I'll take care of Jack, don't worry." Aaron said, as he struggled to change into his pajamas, while Haley stood there complaining about how she never got time for herself.

"Haley, I'm tired, I'll take care of Jack tomorrow so you can go with your friends." He said sadly, walking out of the closet.

"Well, I'm leaving by 8 o'clock, so make sure you make breakfast for him, too, you really need to spend some time with him, he is getting on my nerves." Haley said, climbing back into bed.

"Okay, that's fine." Aaron said, walking toward the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'm going to make some calls and to grab a bite to eat." Aaron said dismissively.

"Okay, whatever, don't stay up to late, I didn't have time to finish the dishes today, maybe you can help me with that before I leave in the morning." She reproached.

"Sure." He walked out of the room and went downstairs.

After he made himself a sandwich, he made a few calls and then sat there on the kitchen stool by himself, looking at a few pictures in his wallet. One was a picture of Jack and him where they looked happy, the other picture was of Haley and him when they were younger and started dating. He thought he was happy, he thought she was it for him, or at least that was what his family had told him, but ten years later, he found himself wondering if he had done the right thing. He knew Haley wasn't happy, she had already cheated on him once…Aaron forgave her because of Jack, but things between them had not been the same. He had really tried, he was doing everything he could for Jack, he forgave her after her betrayal because of Jack, but the truth was he didn't know how much longer he could live like this.


	2. Chapter 2

Save Me

Chapter 2: Happy Birthday to Me

Aaron Hotchner stood on the balcony of his house one morning, sipping out of the hot cup of coffee he had in his hand. He should be feeling older today, he was older, but he only felt sad and disappointed. He had been questioning his life over the last couple of weeks…everything he had ever done. He hated to do that because that would make it seem that he regretted having Jack, but his son was the best gift he had ever received and regretting his marriage with Haley would mean he regretted Jack, too, and he didn't.

But Aaron definitely wasn't happy with his marital situation; the fights between him and Haley kept escalating each passing day. They fought because he wasn't home enough, and when he was there, she told him he was getting on her nerves. They fought because she wanted more, she wanted a life full of luxury, and so far, Aaron had been able to provide that for her but even that wasn't enough…she always wanted more. He did whatever it could to make her happy and got her everything she ever wanted but it was never enough. He was really tired of it, and he was to the point he didn't care anymore; the truth was, he never really remembered a time in his life where they had been really happy.

Well, he had been when Jack was born, but he wasn't sure Haley ever was. As far back as he could remember, they always had the same marriage, Haley wasn't ever happy with anything he did, no matter how much he tried, even if he took time off from work and tried to be there for her it never mattered. He wasn't innocent, of course, he had his faults, too, and he had made way too many mistakes, but even so, he always tried to make her happy and to compensate for his mistakes by getting her the material things she liked, so maybe he had made her the way she was. It was always about what he got her, flowers, jewelry and presents, but he couldn't remember her ever doing the same for him, not that he was materialistic, but he was beginning to realize so many of the small things that were "off" with his marriage with her, and he was starting to wonder what he had ever seen in Haley. It was pathetic since they had been married for ten years, but it was really sad to wake up next to your wife and wonder if you made the right choice.

Today was supposed to be his birthday and he didn't expect anything from anyone, he never did, especially not from Haley, it never really mattered to her, she probably wouldn't even remember it was his birthday. He wasn't materialistic, but maybe in his naïve mind, he expected another kind of present. His prefect kind of birthday dream would have been to wake up to a nice and gentle kiss from his wife, then maybe make amazing, passionate love and afterward, make breakfast together for their son and spend the entire day together, and not even receive any gifts. But, just those small things he enjoyed, things money couldn't buy, would not come from Haley because that wasn't Haley…if money wasn't involved, then there was no deal. Of course, that was just a silly dream of his, something that would never happen with her; in fact, he tried to remember the last time he really smiled while being with her, the last time he enjoyed making love with her so much that he was speechless, and he just couldn't remember that ever happening. Now, he stood outside on his porch looking all pathetic and depressed.

He finished his cup of coffee and walked back inside the house; he had a long ride ahead of him, and he didn't look forward to it. He hated his birthday more than anything in this world. He walked back into the room and went straight into the shower. Haley was still sleeping, so he took a long hot shower, and by the time he was out of the shower, Haley was gone. Aaron assumed she would be with Jack, so after getting dressed to go to work, he headed downstairs, where he found Haley feeding Jack his breakfast.

"Good morning." He greeted them, smiling at his son and kissing his forehead.

"You're going to go to work?" Haley asked, surprised.

"Yes, I told you I had some meetings and paperwork, I wasn't able to get the day off." Hotch said, reaching for his second cup of coffee.

"Well, there were things I wanted to do and since you're always busy I figured we could do it today." She said. Aaron stood there looking at her for a second… _did she really want to spend time with him after all?_

"What kind of things?" He asked.

"I'm not sure I like my car anymore…I want to get a new car." Haley said, while attempting to feed Jack. _Of course, why was he so stupid this about her it always was about her._

"Umm, you've only had that car for six months, what seems to be the problem with it?" He asked gently.

"But, I don't like it, and what is that supposed to mean?" She asked, offended.

"But, we barely got the car, Haley, investing in another car shouldn't be a priority now." He so didn't want to have this fight.

"So, it's about the money, it bothers you to spend money on me?" She asked angrily.

"That's not what I meant, Haley, and you know it; I give you everything you want."

"Well, thanks for throwing that in my face…I didn't know I was such a burden for you. You know if it bothers you so much, I can ask my father to get the car for me since it pains you so much to get it for me." She wanted to pick another fight, and he wasn't going to let that happen in front of his son.

"You know what, I'm not doing this right now, get the car, I don't care, you have my credit cards. I have to go." Aaron said angrily, and he grabbed his go bag, and after pressing a kiss on Jack's forehead, he walked out of the house.

He drove to work angrier than he had ever been; he couldn't believe that even on his birthday she could be so indifferent. Not that he expected anything from her because she never remembered his birthday, but at least for her not to pick a fight and to be a little nicer would have been a perfect present. By the time he got to Quantico, he was in a really bad mood, and he knew with the day he had in front of him, it wasn't going to get any better. He walked into the bullpen, watching his team concentrate on work. They all seemed to be oblivious to his presence as they kept working, so he made his way to his office and locked himself inside.

He was about to sit behind his desk when he was surprised by what he found on top. It was a small cake, but large enough to share with the team. It looked like a chocolate truffle cake with strawberries on top. It had one single blue birthday candle perched on top. Next to the cake was a present wrapped in gold paper with a bright red ribbon. There was a small card placed on the present; he sat down in shock…he didn't think anyone knew about his birthday so he had no idea who the present was from. He opened the card carefully and he read:

 _Happy Birthday, Boss._

 _I wish you the best in life._

He recognized the handwriting and immediately was aware of the perfume on the card. It was from her…he smiled and placed the card down and preceded to open the present with careful hands. His mouth dropped open when he saw what it was. It was a book and not just any book. It was a book he had wanted for a long time. Codex Leicester by Leonardo Da'Vinci. Of course, it was a replica, but this book was a collection of large scientific writings, one that probably Reid would buy. But, Aaron had been interested in reading it for a while…the original book was almost 500 years old and more expensive than Hotch would ever be able to afford. This was a copy and replica so it was probably not so expensive, but still it would be rather costly. He sat there speechless; he couldn't believe she had gotten that book for him. He ran his finger over the cover and smiled…this was definitely the best present he had ever gotten. He was so deep in thought when someone knocked on his office door. He placed the book aside and told the person behind the door to come in; to his surprise it was Emily, she was wearing a nice elegant black suit with a pencil skirt and black high heels, her hair was curlier than usual, and she had worn more make up than she normally did. Hotch had never realized how beautiful she was until that day.

"Hey there, how's your day going?" She smiled lightly.

"Jesus Em, really!? How much did you pay for this?" He asked, worriedly.

"You can't tell a person how much you spend on their birthday gift, Hotch, that's not right." She said, walking closer to him.

"Codex Leicester is probably the most expensive book in the world, Emily." He scolded lightly.

"That's actually not true, the most expensive book is _"Birds of America"_ and is probably around 11 million dollars." She said, sitting on the edge of his desk. He smiled lightly because he knew she was nerdy but not this nerdy, and it was kind of cute.

"God, Hotch, don't worry, let's say my mother's connections turned out to be helpful, I practically got it for nothing." She said as she smiled.

"I'm touched, I don't know what to say, how did you even know?" Hotch asked, looking at her.

"I know things that will shock you." She answered, as she stuck her finger in the frosting of the chocolate cake and licked her finger; for a minute there, Hotch wasn't able to utter a word…there it was, this beautiful woman in front of him sitting on his desk after she gave him the best present he could ever ask for, and she was licking her chocolate covered finger, like a four-year-old. It was cute and sexy at the same time, he couldn't think about her like that, he just couldn't.

"Hotch…."-She called a little louder, bringing him back from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked, "How was your birthday. so far?" She smiled gently.

"Not good, I got into another fight with Haley." He said sadly. Emily just rolled her eyes, nodding. She knew how many problems he was having in his marriage, and she wasn't very fond of his wife. Emily knew she was a bitch, and she knew about all the pain Haley caused her best friend. It really pained her to see her friend like this; he was such an amazing man, and he deserved so much better.

"Do I want to know?" She asked, looking at him.

"She wants another car, and she threatened to ask her father for it if I didn't get it for her." Hotch said, as he also tasted some of the frosting on the cake.

"Wow, nice birthday present, times had really changed…your wife gets a present on your birthday?." She asked angrily.

"I don't want to talk about it, really." He said, trying to smile.

"Okay, then let's focus on the birthday boy, the team wants to take you for dinner if you don't have plans with the wife." She said sarcastically.

"Sure, I can use some drinks, I really need to get out one night and forget about her." He hated to say that but it was the truth, and Emily was his best friend, and he knew he could tell her anything.

"Good, now, focus on getting out of here at a decent time please." She said, getting off the desk and smiling.

"Thank you for everything…the present and the cake, thanks, Emily." Hotch said.

He stood up and pulled her in for a hug, as she said happy birthday again and kissed him on his cheek. It was such a nice moment that made him feel alive again. He was so lucky to have her in his life. She smiled and started to walk toward the door, but he stopped her.

"Em?" He said nervously.

"Yeah?" She turned and her hair flipped around.

"You look…um...very lovely today." He said softly and blushed lightly.

"Thank you, I had that meeting Strauss wanted me to go to." She replied, annoyed.

'Well, I'm sure you impressed everyone." He smiled.

"Thank you, see you tonight, birthday boy." And she winked at him, walking away.


	3. Chapter 3

Save Me

Chapter 3: The Nanny and the Cookie Monster

It was around two o'clock at the BAU, and the entire team was concentrated on paper work…actually, they were trying to concentrate on paperwork. They weren't big fans of paperwork, they preferred that over long and heartbreakingly horrible cases they usually handled, but sitting at their desks for hours and hours wasn't very promising either. They had been at the office most of the day working on the large piles of cases each one had, and they still had a lot of cases to finish. Emily was quietly working on her paperwork with her iPod on, and she was quietly typing her reports simultaneously focusing on avoiding the boys who were currently throwing paper planes at each other, something that was quite difficult since most of the planes were actually landing on her desk rather than on one another. Finally, Morgan threw a plane hard enough and managed to hit Emily in the face…of course, it didn't psychically hurt her, but it did manage to hit the last of her nerves.

"Goddamn, can you two stop acting like kindergarten kids, and do your freaking paperwork!" She snapped, snatching her earphones off her ears and throwing the paper plane back at Morgan as hard as she could.

"I'm so sorry, princess, it was all his fault, I'm so sorry." Morgan apologized laughingly.

"I did not start this, don't lie!" Reid protested.

"You did, too, you're such a chicken." Emily replied, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not a chicken, take it back, Emily, he's calling me a chicken." Reid said, avoiding the plane Morgan had thrown his way.

"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!" Emily snapped, and walked away angrily with her cup of coffee.

Morgan and Reid both burst into laughter and got back to their plane fight, that was until Haley walked inside the bullpen in a rush holding Jack by the hand along with a very big backpack…both man stood there watching her as she made her way to Hotch's office knocking loudly on his door. He opened it a few minutes later and was totally surprised when he saw who it was.

"We need to talk, Aaron." Haley said, and a minute later, she had disappeared behind his door, and they couldn't hear anymore what they were saying. A few minutes later, Emily walked back into the office with a steaming cup of coffee, pretending she still wasn't talking to them, but to her surprise, both boys where in complete silence staring at Hotch's office.

"What are you up to now?" Emily asked, but both men silenced her immediately and pointed toward Hotch's office. It was then that Emily became aware Hotch was arguing loudly with someone in his office.

"I can't believe you're doing this right now, this is not okay, Haley!" Hotch shouted.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I need to do this for myself." Haley shouted back, and a minute later the door opened, and Haley stormed out almost slamming his door. Emily and the boys were aghast at what had just taken place.

"You can't do this, Haley, I can't believe you're so incredibly selfish!" Hotch shouted from the stairs, but Haley just kept walking toward the doors and ignoring him; Hotch was fuming, and he returned to his office slamming the door.

"What was that all about?" Morgan asked, his eyes still on his boss's office.

"Beats me, but Hotch looks really pissed off." Reid implied.

"You two get back to work…now!" Emily ordered, then slowly made her way to his office; she knew very well she was the only person he would tell if something was wrong and so did the boys, and they went back to work almost immediately. Emily knocked on Hotch's door gently and walked in. Hotch was trying to call someone, but he hung up as soon as she walked in.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Emily asked concerned.

"I can't believe she would do this, Emily. I swear, she is so self-centered!" Hotch said angrily.

"What's going on?" But, before he could answer, she realized Jack was sitting on the sofa of his office with a backpack on his lap, looking at his dad with a scared little face.

"She dropped him off here, she is going away for a few days because she needs time for herself." Hotch said angrily.

"Time for herself?" Emily repeated, as it was, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I have a meeting with Strauss and the bureau in an hour, Emily, what am I supposed to do! This is unbelievable!" He shouted.

"Okay, just calm down." Emily said, looking at him through piercing eyes, making him understand he couldn't lose it in front of Jack.

"Hi, Jack, how are you doing, buddy?" Emily said sweetly, sitting down next to three-year-old Jack.

"Hi, Miss Emily." Jack smiled back, he was used to being around his father's team members all the time, so he knew very well who Emily was.

"Jack, do you want to go to my desk, I have a very big piece of chocolate there?" Emily offered with a huge grin. Jack's face lit up, but he turned to his father for permission, and when he nodded, he smiled widely telling Emily it was okay.

"Good, let's go get it." Emily took his hand gently and led him to her desk…after giving him the chocolate and making sure he was happily sitting at her desk, she returned to Hotch's office.

"This is fucking unbelievable, Emily, she is such a selfish person…how can she just take off and leave Jack like this. I mean, I have meetings all day…does she even care about that?" He asked angrily, pacing around the office.

"Hotch, calm down, please. I'll stay with Jack until your meetings are over." Emily offered.

"What! No, Emily, I can't bother you with that. I'm not going to be finished until after seven, at least." Hotch said.

"You won't be bothering me, and that's okay. I'm basically done with paperwork, so I can leave early with Jack and go home. I was planning to cook something today, and I would love to have Jack over and have him stay with me." She smiled.

"Emily, I feel really badly. This isn't your responsibility…I would never saddle you with stuff like this."

"You aren't 'saddling' me with Jack, I'm offering. And trust me, I would rather spend time with Jack than put up with Morgan and Reid for another three hours." That got Aaron to smile.

"They were truly getting on your nerves, weren't they?" Hotch smiled, watching through his office window at the pair that had gone back to throwing planes at each other.

"You have no idea, please, let me help you with this…it will mean a lot to me." She said sweetly.

"Okay, thank you, Em, I really do appreciate this."

"No worries, that's what friends are for." She smiled.

"Just try to relax at the meeting, all my reports are done, so I'll leave now with Jack, and I'll just wait for you at my place." Emily indicated as she started to walk back to her desk.

"Thank you so much, Emily." Aaron said again, shyly. They both walked together to her desk, where Jack was still working on his piece of chocolate.

"Jack, buddy, I need you to be good and go with Miss Emily…she's going to stay with you until daddy gets off from work." Hotch said.

"Okay, daddy." Jack said shyly, looking at Emily.

"You need to be good with her for me." Hotch smiled.

"Okay, daddy, don't worry, I'll be good." Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, daddy, don't worry, we'll be okay, don't worry." Emily teased.

"Thank you, again." Hotch said, standing up from the floor.

Hotch walked them down to Emily's car and stood there as she drove away with his son, he was so angry at Haley for what she had done; he couldn't believe Haley was this selfish, he knew she didn't give damn about him, but for her to leave her son like that, it was completely unacceptable.

By the time Hotch got back to Emily's condo, it was almost eight…he was worried about his son, but he actually felt terrible that Emily had to end up watching Jack because his own mother didn't give damn about him. As Hotch knocked on the door of Emily's apartment, he stood there thinking that Haley had finally crossed the line, and he wasn't sure he could keep doing this with Haley for much longer. Emily opened the door smiling and led him in, and as soon as he stepped into her apartment, the smell of comfort food greeted him.

"Hey there, come on in." She smiled and said, walking back toward the kitchen, as he closed the door. Jack was on the carpet playing with some Legos…he had at least three different boxes of them, and Hotch knew he didn't have those when he left the office that afternoon. Jack was immediately aware of his father's presence, and he stood up happily running towards him.

"Daddy, daddy, you're here." Jack cried happily, running into his arms.

Hey buddy, have you been good for Miss Emily while I've been gone? He asked, ruffling his blond hair.

"Yes, daddy, Miss Emily is super cool, come see this...we builded a spaceship with Legos and a fire truck." Jack said, rushing his father to the living room where he had set their artwork.

"They're very nice, Jack, who bought you all of this?" Hotch asked concerned.

"Miss Emily did, and we also maded cookies, do you want to come see?" Jack was ecstatic, and Hotch had never seen his son so happy and so overjoyed. As Jack pulled him to the kitchen, where Emily was finishing stirring something, he saw the big tray of cookies siting on the counter.

"See, we maded those cookies, aren't they awesome?" Jack asked happily. Hotch saw the cookies covered in blue frosting with eyes and smiled.

"They're blue, why are they blue?" Hotch asked, smiling with surprise.

"They are cookie monster cookies, that's why." Jack said, like it was very obvious.

"Cookie monster cookies!?" Hotch asked in shock, and it was then when Emily started laughing.

"Please don't tell me you've never watched Sesame Street; the little blue fluffy fella is the cookie monster!"

"Oh, I see." Hotch said, still oblivious to what they were talking about.

"So, why did you guys chose this theme?" Hotch asked curiously, not that they had done a bad job, in fact, the cookies were adorable…they had eyes and all that, but he was just curious.

"Well, I told Miss Emily I was scared of monsters, and she said that monsters didn't exist, so I asked her about the cookie monster, and she showed me that the only monsters that existed are good monsters like the cookie monster, so we maded him, and then we're going to eated him." Jack explained happily.

"Well, wow! That is awesome, Jack. So, I take it you had fun?" Hotch asked, since he hadn't seen Jack that happy in a very long time.

"Yes, I did and have you seen Sergio, her cat, he's so nice, daddy. Can I come and stay with Miss Emmy again, please, daddy?

"Well, I don't know, Jack, we'll have to ask her first and make sure she isn't busy." But he wasn't able to finish because Emily spoke.

"Jack, you can come any time you want, okay, now can you go wash your hands for me, sweetheart, we're going to have dinner." Emily ordered gently, Jack smiled and nodded, and then ran off to the bathroom.

"Emily, how much did you spend on all of this, please let me pay you for all this." Hotch said, pulling out his wallet.

"Oh, come on, Hotch, you don't have to pay me anything. I loved spending time with him. I don't have a daughter, or even a niece, so it's nice to be able to spend my money on spoiling someone once in a while." Emily said, opening the cabinets doors.

"But, Emily, come on..." Hotch insisted.

"I don't want to hear it, Hotch, now be a good boy and help me set the table, okay?" Emily said, handing him the plates and smiling at him.

They all ate dinner together, and it was amazing…Emily had made baked chicken and mac and cheese for Jack, and the two Hotchner boys loved it so much that they both asked for a second helping. It was probably because it had been a while since they ate a nice home-cooked meal. Haley usually ordered stuff, or bought stuff that was already made. They ate dinner like a family and it was amazing for Hotch; he really tried hard to remember when was the last time he had seen Jack so happy, all he had done since Hotch arrived was talk about what he and Emily did and how amazing she was. It was so nice for Hotch, and he was so thankful to have someone in his life that cared about him and his son so much, and for a minute, he couldn't keep himself from wondering how his life would have been if Emily had been Jack's mother and his wife. He probably would have been the happiest man on earth, how could he not, the woman was breathtakingly beautiful…she was smart, driven, one of the best agents he had, and also one of the most compassionate and kind persons he had ever met.

After dinner, Jack curled up on her sofa with Sergio in his arms to watch a movie, and to Emily's and Hotch's surprise, Sergio seemed to also really like Jack, and he was curled up next to him on the couch peacefully asleep. Emily even snapped a picture of her cat and Jack both asleep together on her sofa under a fluffy blanket. Hotch himself took a bunch of other pictures. After he helped Emily clean the kitchen and the dishes, they made some hot tea and sat at the dining table again. Emily was one of his best friends, and they usually talked all the time, so he spent the next hour or so just talking with her about almost any- and everything.

"May I ask you a personal question." Hotch asked, looking at her shyly

"Of course." Emily answered, drinking her tea.

"Why have you never been married? I know it's a little private, but, I mean, you're amazing, you're smart, you're a wonderful woman, and very…um…pretty…" he said, blushing." I just wondered how come a woman as great and unique as you are, isn't taken yet?" Emily smiled, blushing lightly, too.

"I don't know; I guess I haven't met the right person." She responded, thinking.

"I don't just want to get married one day because someone thinks it's the right think to do, you know; I want to be with someone that makes me smile all the time, someone who, in twenty years from now, still makes my heart tingle, someone that when I look into his eyes, I know he's the right person for me." Emily explained, looking away for a moment, and it was then that Hotch realized maybe he felt something else for Emily Prentiss, and it wasn't friendship, but he knew he could never look at her like that.

"I think we should go; we've already imposed on you enough." Hotch said, standing up and after he pulled her in for another hug and thanked her for the millionth time that night, he went to pick Jack up in his arms in the blanket Emily let him borrow for the night. She walked them both to the door, and before he left, he turned and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you for everything, I'm so lucky to have you in my life, you know that? And I'm sure that whomever you do chose would be the luckiest man on earth to have someone like you as his wife." His eyes were sparkling when he said that to her, and he leaned in again and kissed her cheek one more time. Then he turned around and kept walking as Emily stood there watching him walk away with the little boy she had fallen in love with today. Maybe she didn't want to pick someone else, maybe the man she wished for was already taken, and maybe it was best if she forgot about him once and for all.


	4. Chapter 4

Save Me Chapter Four

Chapter 4: The Biggest Mistake

Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner rushed down the stairs angrily, he was so tired of fighting with Haley, and he wasn't going to continue fighting with her any longer. He and Haley had been arguing for over an hour, and he needed to get out of the house. The team had been working a lot over the past few weeks…one case after another…and the team had hardly made it home in the past three weeks before they had to leave again; they were all beyond exhausted and worn out. They all just wanted to go home and forget the horrible cases for a few days, so for everyone, going home was a gift, something they looked forward to after each heartbreaking case they had.

But, for Hotch, going home was the same hell that the cases were for him, except for the time he spent with his beautiful son, Jack, so going home for him was a nightmare. Haley had become a nightmare, they fought every single minute he was home, and he was so done with it. There was always something that bothered her or upset her even when he tried his best to be with her, just him and her having a quiet time together, she simply wasn't happy. They argued about almost anything, sometimes it seemed like she purposely picked fights with him for no reason, something just to break the peace that they had. Today, the fight had been one of the most stupid and unbelievable ones they'd had…his boss, Section Chief Erin Strauss had called his home personally; Hotch had not realized his cellphone battery was dead, so the Section Chief ended up calling him on his house phone. Chief Strauss needed some important documents, and he just needed to fax them as soon as possible to her. After he apologized properly to her for what seemed like the 100th time, he proceeded to fax the documents to her, then headed to his room to take a shower. It was then that Haley decided to begin questioning him in an accusing manner about whether Hotch was having an affair with the section chief, something Hotch found not only a huge offense but extremely absurd. Haley was one of the few people who knew how much he hated the section chief, and how that hatred was mutual against each other. Strauss had always tried to get rid of him at the BAU, and he still didn't know why, but Haley was the number one witness as to how much they hated each other. He couldn't believe that Haley was now accusing him of having an affair with the section chief. Hotch didn't even feel like he needed to explain himself to her because this accusation was so absurd and senseless, and he was not in the mood to deal with one of the many outbursts Haley had. He rushed down the stairs just as Haley came after him furiously, following him into the kitchen where he had left his briefcase.

"Aaron, stop, I'm talking to you! You're not leaving until we are finished talking!" She literally looked like an angry hyena.

"Haley, enough, okay! This discussion is not worth it, you're out of your mind." Hotch responded.

"Are you calling me crazy! You're having an affair, and you think I'm crazy! You're such a selfish bastard!" Hotch was aghast… _he was the selfish bastard_? He shook his head angrily and was about to walk out of the kitchen when Haley grabbed one of the kitchen knives and stopped in front of him furiously blocking his way.

"What the hell do you think you're doing…put that away, Haley!" He warned.

"No! You're not going to leave until we talk." Haley said, waving the knife in front of him.

"Haley, STOP!" He screamed angrily.

Hotch placed his briefcase down. _Haley had definitely lost her mind, and she was out of control. He couldn't believe this was happening, he couldn't believe this was the woman he had fallen for so many years ago, this had gone too far_. He tried to move away from her, but she forced the knife against him. Finally, he lost his patience and tried to snatch the knife away from her, but Haley also tried to attack him again, and as they were fighting against each other, he successfully grabbed the knife from her; unfortunately, he ended up cutting his hand a little deeply. Hotch was so angry and had so much adrenaline running through his body that he didn't feel anything, the only thing he could see was the blood running freely down his hand.

He threw the knife in the sink, and he could still hear Haley screaming and cursing at him; however, he slammed the door closed and rushed to his car, with blood still dripping everywhere. He turned on the engine angrily and drove away; he needed to get away from that house and the nightmare his life had become. He didn't know where he was going, he just drove aimlessly…reaching over to the passenger seat and grabbing one of his ties, he wrapped it around his hand to slow the bleeding. He didn't want to go to the hospital because he would have to tell the doctors how he had been injured, and he didn't want Haley to get in trouble as mad as he was at her, and lying wasn't something he liked to do, so he simply drove to the only place in the world he knew he could go and be safe.

He parked his car and got out. By that time, the tie was covered in blood, and his hand was starting to feel numb; _he couldn't believe his marriage had deteriorated this much, that the woman he had called his wife and he believed to be so sweet and gentle had dared to pull a knife on him_. He stopped in front of the door and knocked carefully, he knew it was a little late to be bothering anyone, but he really had nowhere else to go.

After a couple of minutes, Emily opened the door and stood there in shock looking at the disheveled man in front of her.

"Hotch, is everything okay?" She asked in concern, but by the look on his face, she knew the answer.

"May I come in, please?" He asked nervously, and it was then when she became aware of his hand.

"Oh my God, Hotch, what the hell happened to you!" Emily asked, pulling him gently into the apartment.

"I…I cut myself?" He said meekly.

"Come here, let me see that, please." She led him into the guest bathroom and turned the water on rinsing his bloody hand gently. Hotch couldn't utter a word, he just stood there as the warm water washed the blood away.

"Keep your hand here for a minute, I'll be right back." She said worriedly, rushing out of the bathroom and returning a few seconds later with a big first aid kit, bigger than Hotch had ever seen. She put on some latex gloves and gently took his hand again, cleaning the blood from his hand and analyzing how deep the cut was, thankfully he didn't need stiches, but it was still a pretty bad cut. She washed all the blood away and then washed his hand with soap and antiseptic. Then she gently placed a gauze over the cut, putting some pressure on it…she looked very worried and scared, yet she was trying to act calm and gentle with him. He knew she always was thoughtful and tender with him.

"I don't think you need stitches, but I want to put something else on it so it doesn't get infected, okay?" Hotch nodded sadly, as he watched the raven-haired beauty clean his hand after a search through the first aid kit.

"This is alcohol so it might hurt, but I need to put some on you so it doesn't get infected, okay? So, it's going to hurt a little bit." She said sweetly, as she grabbed his hand and she had hardly even touched it before he snatched it away.

"Ouch…ouch, that hurts a lot!" He screamed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know it hurts, but I need disinfect your cut so it doesn't get infected." Emily apologized, and then she realized he was smiling.

"Oh my God, you're totally messing with me, aren't you?" She asked, offended.

"I am; it doesn't hurt at all." He smiled again, deeply for the first time that night.

"You are not funny, Hotch." She reprimanded him, taking his hand back as she proceeded to clean it and disinfect it. She also placed some antibiotic ointment on it and then wrapped it in gauze to protect it.

"I'm going to get you something to change into, let's go to the living room." Hotch followed after her.

She grabbed the biggest pants she could find and the biggest shirt she had, so he could get out of the bloody clothes he was in and get comfortable. She handed him the clothes and after he thanked her again, he headed to the bathroom again to change. When he came out, Emily took his bloody clothes and placed them in the laundry; after that, she handed him a hot cup of tea, and they both sat down at the sofa.

"Do you want to tell me how you got cut?" Emily asked again, sweetly looking at him.

"I really don't want to talk about it." He said sadly.

"It was Haley, wasn't it?" She asked, she knew him very well, and she was sure that bitch had hurt him. Hotch didn't answer.

"What was the reason this time?" She asked, with her eyes on him. He looked so sad and so devastated it broke her heart.

"Apparently, I'm sleeping with Strauss." He said, sipping the hot tea.

"Wow, I didn't know you liked them that old." She teased. Hotch scolded her.

"I'm just teasing." She laughed loudly, and that made him laugh, too; he loved to make her smile, and he loved her laughter…it was like music to his ears.

"I'm going to make you something to eat, okay, then you can head to bed and rest. You can stay here in my guest room as long as you want." She said gently, squeezing his hand. She was about to stand up from the sofa when he stopped her.

"Thank you, Em…for everything, for always being there for me when I need you the most." Their eyes locked together, and he saw in her beautiful eyes the hope he had always wanted. Emily was staring into his eyes as he leaned forward and was about to capture her lips on a kiss, when his phone rang. Emily immediately pulled away and stood up.

"Answer that, I'm going to make you something to eat." She said nervously, rushing into the kitchen, her heart beating a thousand times per minute.

"Hotchner." He answered angrily, he really wanted to kill whomever was on the other end of the phone.


	5. Chapter 5

Save Me

Chapter Five: A Light at the End of the Tunnel.

Over the next couple of weeks, Hotch tried to figure out a way to hold his marriage together for Jack's sake, but he simply didn't know what to do. The love between him and Haley had been dead for many years now...he knew that, and he knew Haley knew that as well. They weren't happy anymore; in fact, they had not been happy in a very long time...it had been months, if not a year, since they had been intimate, and the only reason why they were still together was Jack. It was then when Aaron realized they had made a mistake, they weren't going to make things better for his son by staying together, they were only going to hurt him more by doing that. Emily had helped him see that the night Haley had hurt him with the knife, and she had been right about something...if Jack had at been awake and witnessed the fight, he would have been traumatized for the rest of his life. They were destroying each other by staying together, and it was just going to make things worse. Still, he had wanted to find a way to keep his family together, but no matter what he had done, he knew his marriage to Haley was over, and the best thing they could do was to separate and try to get along for their son's happiness. Hotch had started sleeping in the guest room since the night of the "incident". What Haley pulled that night was the last straw, and he still wondered what kept him from packing his things and moving out. He tried very hard to remember the last time he felt love for Haley; in fact, now, he wasn't sure if he ever did love her.

On top of that, there was someone else that was clogging his thoughts and sleep every day and night..."Emily". He didn't know why, but he simply couldn't stop thinking about her...she was his best friend, probably even a closer friend than Dave had ever been. Dave was his best friend, yes, and had been for several decades and always would be, but his friendship with Emily was different. She was the only person he could talk to about anything and not feel ashamed, and he didn't have to pretend with Emily. The majority of the time he felt like he was wearing this steel mask that made him the stoic, emotionless unit chief he was, and everyone basically expected that from him, even Haley. He always had to pretend to be strong, to not have feelings, to not be tired, to never be sad or happy, he basically had become a robot. Even in front of Dave, he found himself trying to pretend and hiding his true emotions. With Emily it was different, she was the only person that understood him completely, and over the last couple of months, she had been an emotional sounding board for him.

Although they didn't get along when she first started, she proved herself to the team and to him, and then they became friends. Hotch found himself unable to hide his emotions from her, she could read him very well, and she was the only person that could understand him that well. He even found himself crying at her house one evening when one of the cases involving little children really hit him, and Emily never judged him, she just sat there and listened to him comforting him. She had become the only person in this world he could really be himself with, and that he liked; she was the only person with whom he was allowed to be weak and sensitive. And over the last couple of weeks, he simply couldn't get her out of his mind, and as much as he hated to admit it, he had begun seeing her as more than a friend and colleague.

He had never looked at another woman after Haley until he met Emily, but he couldn't stop himself with Emily. She was very well-educated and intelligent. She was also classy and from a very well-known family. Emily was intoxicatingly beautiful as well as sweet and compassionate. He knew she was his subordinate, but he just couldn't stop himself, and after the night he almost kissed her, he simply couldn't stop thinking about her. He found himself, for the first time, having a difficult time being around her at work; he found himself staring at her all the time when she wasn't looking. He even blushed like an idiot when the brunette smiled at him, or got very close to him, and on several occasions when their bodies brushed so close, his heart started to beat a thousand times per minute.

One evening, after a long case he went home...he really wished he had somewhere else to go but his son was the only reason why he kept going to that house. It was a little past ten when he finally stepped inside his house. Hotch actually wasn't supposed to be back until the next day but the team had managed to apprehend the unsub a little earlier so they got to head back home a little earlier. The minute he stepped inside the house, he knew there was something wrong...there was laughter coming from the bedroom he and Haley used to share, and he knew perfectly well it wasn't Haley playing with Jack because it was past Jack's bed time.

On any other night, he would have ignored the noises and gone straight to the guest bedroom where he had been sleeping, but then something caught his attention...a male voice. It was then that he decided he needed to go up there, so very slowly and carefully, he made his way upstairs, where the noises became closer and louder, they were laughing. There was definitely a man in his old room with his wife. He remembered when this happened a few years ago when Haley first cheated on him; he had been devastated that night, however, tonight he simply didn't care anymore. Still, he wanted to go in there and find out if there was definitely nothing else that could keep their marriage together. He grabbed the door knob questioning himself if he really should, and with all the courage he could muster, he opened the door to his former master bedroom and stepped into the room. His heart beat raced and anger began running through his entire body. Haley was in bed with another man, a blonde haired male, and they were nude. Both of them jumped when they heard the door opening, and Haley immediately covered herself.

"Oh my God, Aaron, this isn't what you think!" She exclaimed nervously, covering herself with the sheet.

"I don't believe this, you have no respect for me or your son!" Hotch replied, shaking his head angrily, storming out of the room; he didn't even feel like looking at the asshole who was now in bed with his wife.

Hotch rushed to Jack's room and walked inside to see his son fast asleep. He walked to the side of the bed and picked up his backpack, throwing the contents on the floor. He then proceeded to put fresh clothes for Jack into the backpack along with some other things he would need. It was then when Haley walked into the room wearing in a robe, and Hotch heard the downstairs door close abruptly.

"Aaron, please, I can explain this, just listen to me." Haley begged. Aaron didn't respond, he just glared at her and kept pacing around Jack's room packing things that Jack would need.

"What are you doing, Aaron?" She asked, when she saw him packing Jack's things.

"I know you lost respect for me a long time ago, but the fact that you can't even respect our son is something I won't tolerate." He barked, picking Jack up from his bed.

"Where are you going, you aren't taking my son, Aaron!" Haley cried, stopping in front of the door.

"Move Haley! before Jack wakes up and sees how I found his mother in bed with another man!" Haley just froze.

"It's not what you think...I can explain." She said meekly.

"I don't need an explanation, Haley…in fact, I'm glad this happened because I'm sick of pretending this marriage means something when it doesn't, but I would not allow you to have Jack in the house while you sleep around, you will not disrespect our son." He barked, walking past her, rushing down the stairs with Jack in his arms, and Haley following after him.

"I'll start the divorce papers first thing tomorrow." He said, stopping at the door.

"If you ever bring a man to this house while my son is here, I'll make sure you aren't allowed around Jack at all." He screamed at her while she tried to beg him to stop and listen to her.

"Aaron, please stop, let me explain." Haley begged, crying, but Hotch carefully placed his son in his booster seat on the back seat, and then he got in the car driving away from the house.

He drove away angrily, he simply couldn't believe what he had just witnessed; he couldn't believe Haley had dared to cheat on him again and have their son in the house while she was doing it. He was so angry that Jack could have seen something or found his mother in the same way he had...he couldn't believe Haley was so self-centered she didn't even respect their son. But he would not allow her to hurt Jack no matter what he had to do, Hotch felt he had taken enough from her, and he was simply done.

He drove to Emily's condo without even thinking, he knew her's was the only place he could go where he would be safe and where his son also would be safe. Hotch parked the car and got out, lifting Jack carefully in his arms without waking him walking to her apartment and knocking on her door gently. A few minutes later, Emily opened the door wearing pajama pants and an FBI shirt.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked, scared when she saw Hotch and little Jack at her front door.

"I'm so sorry to just show up like this, I just didn't know where else to go." His voice was sad and broken.

"Come in, you know you don't have to call." She said, moving away so Hotch could come in.

"Let me take Jack to bed, okay?" She offered gently as Hotch let her take Jack from his arms into hers. He then followed her to her guest room and watched as she placed the sleeping boy gently on the bed and covered him with the blankets. She then placed a kiss on little Jack's forehead, and that made him smile, Emily loved his son, even when she didn't know him that well.

"Come on, let's go out there and talk." She said, walking out into the living room.

"I'll make some coffee, okay?" She offered, she didn't know what was going on, but she knew he would talk to her when he was ready. She placed the kettle on the stove, and Hotch walked in the kitchen looking at her.

"I found her in bed with another man." He said, looking away. Emily's mouth dropped.

"Oh my God, Aaron, I'm so sorry." She said sadly.

"I just can't believe she would have my son there, you know? What if he had seen them...how could she do this Emily…in front my son?" Hotch banged his fist on the counter.

"I don't know, but you can stay here with Jack as long as you want, and I'm very sorry about this. I don't know what to say, I can only imagine what you're going through and how much it hurts." She said sadly.

"I'm not mad about her cheating, you know, I don't even care about that, I'm angry because she did it in my house with my son there." Emily just looked at him without knowing what to say. He looked away for a second, and then he looked down sadly.

"So you are not mad about Haley cheating again…..?"-Emily asked knowing this was the second time she had cheated on him.

"No…..I am supposed to be furious and heartbroken and I am not, in fact I am relief this happened…."-he said harshly.

"I don't understand what do you mean …"-Emily asked incredulously

"I'm doing the same thing, you know." He added with a broken voice.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"Cheating."

"What!?" She almost dropped the cups of hot water she had in her hands, and she felt a knot form in her stomach.

"You're cheating on Haley? How? I've never seen or heard you talking about another woman." Her heart ached and she didn't know way, she placed the cups down looking at him in shock.

"I'm not physically cheating on her, but all this time, I've done nothing but think about another woman." He confessed.

"I didn't know there was someone else." She said sadly and heartbroken. Hotch smiled at how oblivious she was of his feelings for her, and also at the fact that she couldn't hide her true feelings.

"I fell in love with someone, and I can't get her out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried." He said, smiling lightly.

"Who is she, you never mention her." _Emily wanted to cry, this really hurt...why did she have to fall in love with him, why was she so stupid_. Aaron walked closer to her and smiled at her astonished face. She looked down sadly and Hotch placed his finger under her chin to make her look at him.

"I'm looking at her right now" He confessed, his eyes glowing.

"What?" She was in shock now.

He leaned down and finally captured her mouth in a kiss that was sweet and gentle. Emily didn't move, she just let him kiss her, his arms wrapped around her waist pulling her closer to him. They stood there kissing, for a while, and when they finally pulled apart, she was speechless.

"I can't hide it anymore, Em, I can't pretend anymore. I don't know why, but I fell in love with you. I can't stop thinking about you, and this has nothing to do with what happened tonight. I promise you that…I been feeling this way for longer than I can remember"-He said as Emily smiled shyly at him

"I don't know why it happened, but it did. I love you, Em. I can't hide it anymore." Hotch said, with watery eyes.

"I love you, too, Aaron." She said, as tears rolled down her cheeks. He leaned down and again captured her mouth in a sweet kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

Save Me

Chapter Six: A Wonderful Christmas Night

It had been a few months since Aaron separated from Haley and started divorce proceedings, so now the entire office knew about his separation. Surprisingly, everyone was glad Hotch had finally made the decision to leave his now ex-wife and completely supported his decision. The team was well aware of how evil and nasty Haley had been to him over the past few years, and they only wanted him to be happy. Mentally and physically he felt much better since he had moved out of the house, and he could finally breathe and be at peace. He was spending as much time as possible with Jack, and he tried to explain to Jack as kindly and gently as he could why he and his mother were no longer living together. He knew this was not going to be easy on Jack's part, but he was going to be there to provide him all the support he could. He knew he had made the right decision, and now the only thing that mattered to him was Jack and that was all. Well Jack and of course Emily; after the night he came to her and declared his feelings for her, they had started something. He knew he was in love with her, but he wanted to do things right. Emily was a different person than Haley, and he didn't want to make the same mistakes with Emily that he made with Haley. Now, that he knew Emily loved him, too, he had all the motivation and strength he needed to keep focused on going forward with their relationship.

Nobody on the team knew about their relationship but Dave, and that was because Dave had figured it out on his own. He was trying to keep things quiet until after his divorce was finalized, then he would shout to the wind that he was madly in love with the brunette. His reasoning for keeping things a little on the less emotional side with the brunette beauty was the fact that his divorce wasn't final, and he didn't want rumors to start around the watercooler. He loved and respected her more than words could say, and he knew she deserved so much better than being used as a warm body after his separation from his wife. Hotch had tried to keep things at a certain level with her, not because he didn't want to be with her, but because he respected her too much. He had been staying with her at her apartment, and he was so thankful for all the support she was giving him and for how understanding she was being with him.

Of course, Emily was well aware of how their relationship had started and what Aaron was going through at the moment, so she wasn't really expecting much from him…she just wanted to be there for him. They knew very well they loved each other, and they were sure they wanted to be together, but it was still hard for both of them. They had not been intimate since they began their relationship; of course, they had kissed and cuddled together a lot and even made out, as teenagers would call it. But, they had not really been sexually intimate…it wasn't because Hotch didn't want her…hell, he was dying inside to be with her, but again he loved her too much, and he wanted their first time not to be while he was battling in courts for his divorce. He had stopped himself many times when things got a little heated between them, and he had started to notice Emily was beginning to feel somewhat rejected, and he wanted to make sure she understood what was going on before she felt like he was using her.

So, one morning when he came out of the shower, she handed him a steaming cup of coffee; she had already showered, and they were ready to head out and get some gifts for the team since Christmas was around the corner.

"I got you some coffee, and while you get dressed, I'm going to make breakfast, any preferences?" She asked, smiling at him.

"Anything you want is fine, baby, if you don't feel like cooking, we can go out for breakfast, too." He said, smiling and pulling her into his arms.

"I want to cook, I like cooking for you." He leaned down to kiss her as he pulled her closer to him placing the cup of coffee on the bathroom counter and wrapping his arms around her waist. They stood there kissing for a while until things got heated again and Emily's hand moved to undo the knot of his bathrobe, but Aaron stopped her gently pulling away.

"Baby, wait." He said, pulling away some.

"What!" Emily finally asked, somewhat hurt. He didn't know how to answer, so he just looked at her…he could see her beautiful eyes filling with tears, and she finally pulled away completely.

"I'll be downstairs making breakfast." She said, in a broken voice.

"Em, wait, sweetie." He just heard the room door close, and he just shook his head. He needed to tell her what was going on, so he quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a dress shirt…after he was ready, he came downstairs to find her cooking by the stove, and everything smelled delicious. He walked in and wrapped his arms around her from behind, and he felt Emily tense under his touch, and he smiled lightly.

"Can you come sit with me for a second, I want to talk to you about something." He offered gently.

"I'm cooking, Aaron, we can talk later." She said coldly. He smiled again, turning her to look at him.

"Please…Em, I want to talk to you." He said, looking at her so intensely it hurt.

She finally nodded and turning off the stove, she followed him into the living room. He sat down on the sofa and Emily sat next to him; however, he pulled her from the sofa into his lap.

"Em, I need you to understand that I love you. I'm not lying about that; I really do love you." He said, looking at her.

"Things started with us in a very difficult situation."

"I know that." Emily responded sadly.

"I don't regret, however, how things happened, because it gave me the opportunity to tell you how much you mean to me." He could see that Emily was still hurt, and he wanted to make sure she heard everything he wanted to say.

"I made many mistakes with Haley, and I don't want to make those mistakes with you."

"I'm still battling in the courts for the judges to approve the divorce, and while this is ongoing, I don't want that to affect us in any way."

"It won't affect us, Aaron, what does that have to do…" but Aaron stopped her words by putting his finger gently on her lips.

"You mean so much more to me than sex, Emily…I need you to know that…that is why I pulled away, not because I don't want to be with you. Because I do, Em…trust me, I have dreamed about making love to you for longer than I can remember." She finally smiled shyly at him.

"I want our first time to be magical and amazing, and at least for my divorce to be final. I don't want to be with you while I am still legally married to Haley." He confessed.

"I love you much more than that, and you deserve so much better, I want to give you all of me and all you deserve. I want to give you a romantic night with rose petals and candles and everything else you deserve." His eyes were glowing and moist when he was talking to her.

"I don't care about that and you know it, I'm not materialistic, Aaron."

"I know, love, but I do care about those little things because I love you too much, and I want to make things right with you and I, and I know you are it for me, Emily. You are the woman I want in my life for the rest of my life. I just need you to be patient with me for a little longer, please." She smiled warmly at him.

"Ok."

"I love you, beautiful." He said, pulling her in for kiss.

"I love you, too." She hugged him closer to her and smiled contently.

A few more weeks passed and Christmas Eve came; Aaron was happy to see his son again. The judge had handed down the decree to allow him to spend the morning with Jack, so he got up earlier that morning and took Emily and Jack for breakfast and to buy a few presents. He also gave Emily the opportunity in the morning to give Jack the presents she had gotten for him. After that, Emily decided to give them some daddy and son time so she returned to her condo to bake some desserts and get ready for the dinner the team was having at Rossi's house. Aaron spent the rest of the afternoon with Jack getting a few things Jack needed, and he even helped Jack get a nice present for Emily too. Aaron himself got a special gift for her that he wanted to give her that evening. Around six in the afternoon, he returned Jack to his Haley, and then he headed back to the Emily's condo to pick her up for the dinner. The minute he walked in her apartment, the smell of baked goodies greeted him, and he smiled contentedly. One of the things he loved about Emily was her love of cooking. He walked into the kitchen and selected one of the cookies she had made, eating it and smiling widely.

"You are not supposed to have dessert until after dinner, mister." She said joyfully. She was wearing a red sweater dress with black leggings and black boots. Her hair was done in nice curls and her makeup was discreet, but she looked absolutely gorgeous.

"You look marvelous." He said, smiling in shock…he was sure he looked like an idiot staring at her like that.

"Thank you." She blushed. Aaron walked further into the room and pulled her into his arms kissing her passionately.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked, when they pulled away.

"Yes, let me just grab my coat." They headed out to Rossi's for dinner and were ready to have a great time.

Dinner was just as perfect as he had imagined it would be, and everyone had an amazing time; the team was the closest thing they had to a family, and having such a special day with his family was amazing for both Emily and Aaron. They drank some wine and even some champagne, and dinner was delightful was well. Aaron couldn't remember having so much fun in a very long time, they spend the whole night laughing and sharing anecdotes, and finally opening presents. After that, they headed back home and decided to spend some time cuddling on the sofa and watching movies by the fireplace and the Christmas tree. They both changed into festive pajamas and cuddled by the sofa with a glass of wine. It was simply amazing…the fire was toasty and it looked absolutely beautiful by the Christmas tree.

"I have a present for you." Aaron said, kissing her gently.

"I thought we weren't opening presents until tomorrow." Emily said, smiling widely at him.

"We are, just not this one, baby, please, I need you to open it tonight." He said, standing up from the sofa and picking up a small long box from under the tree.

"Merry Christmas, baby." Emily smiled, taking the present and kissing his lips gently.

Emily opened the box gently with shaking hands, it was a long, black velvet box. When she opened it, she saw a beautiful white gold necklace with a heart locket covered with diamonds. Inside, there was a picture of him on one side and on the other, a picture of Jack. Emily smiled as her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh Aaron, it's so beautiful." She said softly and smiled, hugging him tightly.

"This is my heart, and I'm giving it to you because I love you more than words can say, you came into my life when I least expected it, and you basically changed my life." He said, while placing the necklace around her neck.

"I love you, Em, and if you give me time to make things right. I promise you this will be whatever we want it to be." He said, pulling her in for a kiss and wiping her tears.

"I love you, too, Aaron, more than you know."

"The judge approved the divorce, I got a call from my lawyer this morning, he will file the divorce in my favor for adultery." He said, smiling widely.

"I am so happy, Aaron. I just want the best for you." They hugged and kissed for a while longer.

Then, Emily moved the side table away with Aaron's help, and they set up a bunch of comfortable blankets and pillows on the floor. The fire was so cozy and cuddling by the tree watching Christmas movies was just an amazing way to spend the rest of Christmas Eve. They both got under the covers and settled to watch movies contentedly in each other's arms.

They were in the middle of watching "The Way We Were" when Aaron pulled her close to him for another kiss, he was so happy and he had definitely had one of the best Christmas Eves he had ever had. Everything outside was covered in snow, and it was such a beautiful looking Christmas. Their kisses soon turned passionate, and Emily turned under him; his lips were like a fire that was consuming her, and she gently slid her hand under his pajama top making him gently moan on her mouth. Aaron continued kissing her because he couldn't control himself any longer, and after searching for permission in her eyes, he slowly began undoing the buttons of her silk pajama top…their mouths still fused together as Emily removed his shirt gently. When he finished undoing the buttons of her pajama top, he saw a sexy red silk camisole. Aaron watched as the brunette stared intensely at him, her eyes full with desire. Emily smiled shyly at him, blushing lightly, and he returned her smile as he slowly removed her pajama top completely.

Their mouths joined again in a passionate kiss while his hand softly caressed her abdomen through her silk camisole. As things became more heated, Emily could feel his erection pressed against her, and she became aware of how wet he was making her. She ran her fingernails softly down his back sending goose bumps throughout his entire body, then she moved her hands to the elastic of his pajama pants pulling them down to his knees. Aaron carefully pulled away removing his pants and also removing her silk pajama pants gently, as well. Leaving the brunette in her sexy red silk camisole and panties to match.

"God, you are breathtakingly beautiful." He whispered into her ear, then nibbling at her neck softly.

Emily moaned softly as his hand finally moved under her camisole and caressed her body softly; her breath hitched when he cupped her heavy breast. She bit his lip gently while her hand moved inside his boxers to surround his hard, swollen member. _Holy shit, she would never have imagined he was that big. She knew he would be very well endowed, but this was beyond her expectations._

Their kisses were full of passion and desire, but they were also sweet and full of meaning and love. He removed her camisole while his other hand softly caressed her smooth legs. He had dreamed of making love to her for longer than he could remember, and right now, he was desperately aching to be inside her especially when she was stroking his rock hard member.

His mouth started trailing kisses and gentle bites on her neck and going down through the valley of her breasts. He softly grabbed one of her breasts and pulled it into his mouth sucking at the hardened nipple not so gently making Emily arch her back to him moaning his name softly.

"Aaron." She whispered, throwing her head back. He smiled widely, watching her melt for him, as the warm light of the fire illuminated both their bodies. He kept up with his work on her other breast as he heard her breath become more erratic…after he teased her for a little longer, he kept kissing down her stomach and then he ran his tongue around her navel.

Aaron slowly pulled her wet silk panties down her slim legs while looking at her; he had never experienced so much desire for any woman in his life. While he was inching her panties down her legs, he pressed wet kisses on her calves and legs, gently biting at the smooth skin until his face was in front of her sex; he could smell her desire, and he realized from her wet folds how wet she really was, and that made him smile widely…he had no idea he could made her feel this way. He slowly started kissing her sensitive part licking at her slit and lapping at her juices, making her whimper and throw her head back closing her eyes tightly.

"God, Aaron, please..." She moaned, trying to push him away with her hands, but he stopped her, grabbing her hands firmly in his as he continued his job with her wet core. He watched as her breath became more erratic, and she started to buck against him involuntarily.

"Aaron, I want you inside me, please, now." She begged, breathlessly.

"Shhhh, baby, patience is a virtue, you will feel me inside you, just relax." He told her, smiling.

"I can't relax, if you continue that, I'm going to…oh God…" She moaned, when she felt his finger inside her. He continued running his tongue up and down her slit tasting her juices, adding a second finger and moving in and out of her until she came, arching her back and screaming his name. He kept his mouth at her slit and his tongue moving on her clit until her orgasm was over, then he returned to kissing all over her body until they were face to face again. He smiled at her flushed face and dilated pupils after her orgasm.

"God, you taste so amazing." He said huskily, pulling her to him for a kiss…Emily could taste herself on his mouth. Her hand moved to grab his erection placing it at her entrance…she was desperate to have him inside her now. He smiled at her gently.

"God, you have no idea what you do to me, baby, I love you, Em." He whispered, as he slid inside her.

"I love you, too, oh God!" She moaned, closing her eyes tightly as his big member completely filled her.

"Am I hurting you, baby?" He asked, concern stopping his movements.

"No, I'm okay, just give me a second." She whispered, looking at him as she heard the fire cracking on the fireplace.

A few minutes later, he started gently moving again inside her as their hands laced together, their eyes glued to each other. This was absolutely the most amazing Christmas he had ever had; he had a wonderful morning with his son Jack, and then a memorable afternoon with his team. Now, he was here making love to this beautiful woman on the blankets on the floor by the fireplace and the Christmas tree. It was just as magical and amazing as he had imagined. No woman had made him feel what Emily was making him feel in the moment.

"Good Lord, Emily, you feel so amazing, baby, you're so tight." He whispered hotly into her ear.

"Oh Aaron, don't stop." Emily moaned, as she felt her second orgasm building, her fingernails dipping into his ass pushing him further inside her. He kept moving in and out of her, with his movements becoming more erratic until they both shared an intense orgasm. He remained inside her as their sweaty bodies were stuck together making the fire wash over both their bodies.

"I love you, Em." He said, kissing her again.

"I love you, too, honey." They lay there for a little longer still connected to each other. Finally, Aaron pulled out of her and rolled onto his back pulling the flushed brunette into his arms. She cuddled against his chest where they remained until their breaths evened out, her hand playing with the curls on his chest.

"This is absolutely the most amazing Christmas I've ever had." He whispered, kissing her forehead.

"You know, Christmas isn't technically over for another twenty-two hours." She said, as she looked at the clock on the wall…it was two in the morning…Christmas had barely begun.

"Oh yeah?" Aaron asked laughingly.

"Yes, that means we can do a lot more things for the next twenty-two hours, I know a lot of things you might enjoy." She said huskily.

"Anything with you is the best gift I could ever have, you're the best thing that could happen to me, Emily." He said, looking at her intensely.

"Sweet talker." She said smiling.

"Oh, really." He said, tickling her making her scream.

"No, Aaron, stop baby...stop!" Emily screamed, laughing as he tickled her.

It was definitely the best night he ever had, they spent the rest of the night making love by the fireplace and talking until almost sunrise. He knew he still had a lot of trouble to face with the divorce, but with Emily by his side he knew he could do anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Save Me

Chapter 7: The First Fight

Emily and Aaron had been dating officially for about four months…things were good with them, actually things were amazing. Each passing day, Aaron felt more and more in love with the brunette. She was basically everything he had ever wanted in a woman. She truly got him, probably more than anyone else ever had; she saw his true colors and accepted him for whom he was. She saw his weakest and strongest points, she knew when to love and comfort him, but she also knew how to give him space and time when he needed it. She was his best friend, his soul mate, and she made him smile, no matter how sad and upset he was. She always knew how to bring him back from the black hole he was in. She was funny, and she was sweet and compassionate.

Emily could be very tender at times, and he knew she loved it when he was the protecting and caring man that would watch after her. But, at the same time, he knew she was strong enough to take care of herself; hell, she was even strong enough to take care of both of them. She was absolutely beautiful and definitely had the most amazing body Aaron had ever seen in his life. Emily was sexually curious and adventurous. Aaron never thought he would enjoy sex as much as he did with Emily. Not that he didn't enjoy sex with Haley, it was just that Haley had always been very traditional and conservative. But with Emily, he could open other doors and other dimensions and the entire focus was his pleasure; of course, he knew very well how to receive, but also how to give in return. The truth was, he had never felt this happy with any other woman that had been in his life…he felt like Emily truly was it for him, Emily was the woman of his life.

Of course, by now, Haley had found out about their relationship, well, actually, she had not found out, but she suspected something, and of course, all hell had broken loose. She immediately tried to have a big argument with Aaron, but since he didn't have to give her any explanation about his relationship status with the Emily or anyone, he refused to speak with Haley about the subject. Of course, that put the former Mrs. Hotchner in a rage, and she tried to do whatever she could to sabotage his relationship with Emily. At first, she refused to sign the divorce papers, but since the judges basically made her, she had no choice but to sign them. Then, she tried to use every opportunity she could to separate them, and she wasn't going to stop until she had succeeded. Aaron was trying really hard not to let her bother him, or not to let her get between him and Emily…he wasn't going to destroy his happiness with her, no matter what he had to do.

As for Emily, she had never been so in love with any man, her dream had finally come true. She had the most amazing man on earth and couldn't be happier. Of course, she knew very well the circumstances in which they had fallen in love and started a relationship. She was very well aware that his now ex-wife was going to do anything she could to destroy their happiness.

Haley had been messing around lately with the dates Aaron was supposed to have Jack. Either she called unexpectedly when she knew they were alone and together which was very odd because with both of their jobs, they hardly had any time for themselves, so if she called, it meant Aaron had to go back to his apartment to take care of Jack. Of course, Jack was aware of their parent's divorce, and he was hurting a lot. He loved Emily a lot and even if they had not openly admitted to the young boy they were in a relationship, they spent quite a lot of time around him together. Still, Aaron wanted to give Jack as much time as he needed before he actually talked openly to him about his relationship with Emily. So, if Haley called, that meant no time for them as a couple which really pissed off Emily. Either that, or Haley would change the dates Aaron was supposed to have Jack to the following weekend. Which meant they had already planned time with Jack and now, because of Haley, that had been screwed up. Little by little, they were making the boy aware of their relationship and to their surprise, Jack was quite happy, he loved Emily very much. In fact, he adored her, he loved spending time with her, and Aaron, of course, couldn't be happier that his son had accepted the woman he was completely in love with.

The only obstacle that was between their happiness now was Haley and her bullshit, and he was very afraid that sooner or later that would drive Emily away from him, and sure enough, they had their first official fight as a couple thanks to Haley.

Emily was at her desk at Quantico…it was past eight o'clock on a Friday night and most of the team was gone for the day. She had already turned in her files, but she had been doing something on her computer for a while and Aaron was not sure what, but he was curious. Pretending he was handing back the files they had submitted last week, he started to walk around the bullpen placing the reviewed files on his team member's desk, until he reached Emily's.

"I would have figured you had left by now, Agent Prentiss." Aaron said, smiling lightly.

"I'm almost leaving…I was just looking up something." She said, turning in her chair to look at her boss.

"What are you doing?" He asked gently.

"Well, I've been doing some research." Emily said, looking around the bullpen to make sure no one heard her, but everyone had left for the night.

"Since we have Jack a week from tomorrow, I was thinking we can do something fun with him…there is a drive-through wild safari where we can feed the animals and see them. It's about two hours away, but I think Jack would love it, and we can spend the night there and come back the next day. It would be like a small road trip." Emily said cheerfully.

"Wow! That actually sounds amazing, we could use that time for us and Jack. I like the idea a lot." The unit chief said in a soft tone, pretending he was showing her a file in case anyone was watching them.

"Good, because I already got the tickets, and the hotel reservation…" She responded, grinning at him widely.

"Have I ever told you that you are amazing?" He said, almost under his breath making Emily giggle.

"No, but I think you should." Emily teased. They both laughed and got back to work; even if it was a week away Emily was really looking forward to it.

The week passed by rapidly and before they knew it, it was Friday again. Haley was supposed to drop Jack off around five at Quantico. The plan was for Emily to go back to his apartment with Jack and wait for Aaron's meetings to be over. They were going to make a nice dinner and spend time together, and the following morning, they would leave early for their safari trip. They had already told Jack about the plans, and he was overjoyed and could not stop talking about their trip.

Five thirty came, but there were no signs of Haley. Emily sighed impatiently, hoping this was not another once of her evil plots. To Emily's intuition, Haley walked inside Quantico five minutes later but she was by herself, no Jack anywhere to see. Aaron approached her and wondered the same thing that Emily was wondering…what the hell was going on.

"What's going on, it's past five, where's Jack?" Aaron asked, looking around.

"Jack is not coming, Aaron. Listen, Jessica and I made last minute plans to take Jack fishing tomorrow, so we can change our weekends, if that's okay with you?"

"What! This is crap, we had plans already for tomorrow." Emily said, unable to stop herself.

"Excuse me, look Agent Prentiss, this is none of your business, this is between my husband and I." Haley said, glaring at her.

"Ex-husband." Emily corrected Haley, through piercing eyes.

"You know what, Agent Prentiss." But Aaron stopped them before anything else could happen.

"Haley, stop, okay? I don't think this is fair." He said angrily.

"I'm sorry, Aaron, technically, this was not your weekend. I only agreed to change it because you had a case on your weekend….so, you should not be getting mad. I can call the lawyer if you want, but I'm sure he will agree with me." She said evilly.

"That's not necessary, Haley…I…it's fine…whatever." Aaron just sighed, shaking his head angrily but nodding at his ex-wife.

"I can't believe this, you're just going to let her get away with this!? This is bullshit and you know it!" Emily exclaimed angrily

"Emily, please…let me handle this." He begged Emily. He was as pissed as she was because of this. He totally knew that what Haley was doing was complete bullshit, and it was completely unfair. But, she was right about the fact that it was her weekend, two weeks ago Aaron had been called in on an emergency case, and he had to end up switching days with Haley to this weekend. Haley had agreed to let him change the days; of course, now she was being a major bitch and changing her mind. But, if the lawyers were to be involved, they were going to take Haley's side and the last thing he needed was more problems with his ex wife since the case for Jack's custody was still pending.

"I don't believe this!" Emily said angrily, shaking her head and looking at Aaron through piercing eyes.

"Please, Emily, I'm begging you." Emily had no choice but to leave them alone. She walked away going into his office and angrily slamming the door shut. She was so mad she was shaking…she could not believe Aaron was letting his ex-wife blackmail him like this, she was doing it on purpose, and both of them knew it. She was so fed up with Haley's bullshit and was even more fed up with Aaron allowing her to do this to them. About ten minutes later, Aaron came into the office, he was, of course, mad but from the look in his face, Emily knew the answer. Jack was not coming, and their trip was no longer happening.

"I'm so sorry, Em." He apologized.

"I can't believe you let her do this. We had plans, Aaron, and she's doing this on purpose, and you're letting her do it." Emily said indignantly.

"I know that, Em, but I have to handle things carefully with her. I don't want to piss her off."

"Oh, wait! So, you don't want to upset your ex-wife, but you don't give a dam about how I feel about this, about how upset I am!" She spat angrily.

"No, that's not what I am saying." He said, trying to calm her down.

"We had a plan, Aaron. We already had the tickets and everything ready I been planning this for a whole week." She protested.

"Look, if this is about the money, I can pay you the money…I just..." The minute he said it, he regretted it, he should have worded it a different way. Emily felt like she had been slapped in the face.

"Are you fucking serious!?" I can't believe you would even think that about me." She cried, hurt.

"Emily, I'm sorry, that's not what I meant."

"This is not about the money, Aaron, this is about the fact that she is screwing with you. She is trying to get between us, and you know it, and you're letting her do it. After everything she's done to you, I can't believe you would let her get away with this." She said, as a few tears rolled down her face.

"Emily, baby, please, don't cry…please, I'm sorry for what I said." He tried to approach her and pull her into his arms, but she angrily pulled away pushing him away from her.

"Don't, okay, I'm going home, and I think you should do the same." She spat angrily, walking past him.

"Emily, please." He begged, but it was useless…she was very angry and hurt, and he knew better than to go after her. The thing that pissed him off the most was this was their first official fight as a couple and it had been caused by his stupid ex-wife.


	8. Chapter 8

Save Me

Chapter 8: A Gruesome Kind of Case

The plane ride back to Quantico was quiet. It was rather late at night, but Hotch didn't want to spend one more night in Connecticut. It had been a particularly gruesome, difficult case, as most of them were anyway, but this one was the one case where an innocent person died at the hands of a team member. Emily's hands, to be specific, and she was more than affected by this case.

It had all started when they were called to consult over a series of suicide cases all in the same county. All the suicides happened on a Thursday night, and despite Morgan's attempts to convince the team that they were plain suicides and there was no need for the team to fly out there, Emily sensed something differently. She persuaded Hotch and Rossi to take the case, and they ended up flying to Connecticut. They quickly discovered all the cases were related to an online website, where the unsub had managed to target victims that suffered from severe depression disorders, and he had managed to convince them that suicide was the only answer to their problems. He managed to target five victims successfully before the team tracked him and attempted to stop him.

Eventually, they found him and apprehended him only to find out there was one more victim in the process of committing suicide. Before anyone else had the opportunity to react, Emily took the SUV and drove as fast as she could to the victim's house; she had not waited for Hotch's order, or any backup…she just drove there as fast as she could. Unfortunately, she got there too late! Kasey Williams had hung herself in the closet. Emily attempted to get her down and resuscitate her, but her efforts had been too late…she was dead. The entire team arrived two minutes after Emily got her down, and they made the necessary calls. From the minute Hotch stepped into the room, Emily knew she was in trouble, but she didn't care…she had attempted to save a life and even if she had failed, she had no regrets…she would do it again. So, the team was back on the jet on the way home; Hotch had not said a single word to Emily, and she wondered why.

She knew very well she was in a lot of trouble and would probably be suspended. It also didn't help that she and her boyfriend/boss were in a fight, thanks to Haley. They had gotten into an argument when Haley intentionally changed the plans they had of taking Jack on a field trip to a wild safari. Wrong words were said, and they had ended up in an argument, their very first fight as a couple. Emily walked out of his office fuming and pissed at him going home, and before they had the opportunity to even talk, they had been called out on a case again. Now, well now, here she was leaning against the plane window, her eyes lost in the dark night and her mind miles away. She really wondered what was stopping Hotch from screaming at her and chewing her head off, but she knew it could happen at anytime. She just hoped he wouldn't do it in front of the team, and to her surprise, he said nothing to her the entire way home, or even when they arrived at Quantico, so, she tiredly packed her things and drove home.

Perhaps he would fire her first thing in the morning the next day, but she truly didn't care…right now, she wanted to go home and forget that the world even existed. As soon as she got home, she got into the shower letting the hot water run over her body and rinse away her tears. She changed into comfortable pajamas and was about to jump into bed and sleep until the next day when someone knocked on her door. She walked downstairs quietly and looked through the peephole…there, standing on the other side of the door, was her boss with a frown on his face. Emily exhaled not wanting to do this right now, she really wished she could just ignore him, but she knew she couldn't. She slowly opened the door for him, moving out of the way so he could come in.

Aaron stepped in giving her a hard look; he still wore his perfectly pressed suit, and he looked very angry. However, Emily wasn't scared of him, she didn't regret what she had done, so she was ready to face whatever was about to come. Aaron stepped into the middle of the living room and turned to look at her. Emily was ready for his rage coming at her; however, he simply sat down and looked down at the floor.

"Are you okay?" He asked, in a raspy voice.

"I…I…am…I don't really know…" She answered, stammering.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, looking at her.

"What do you mean?" Emily pretended to be oblivious to his question.

"The reason why this case hit you so hard, why it was so personal for you." He said softly. Emily froze and all of a sudden, she didn't know what to say…Aaron stood up and took her hand gently leading her back to the couch and making her sit down, while he knelt in front of her.

"It was someone close to you, wasn't it?" He inquired, reading her thoughts. Emily exhaled, looking down at the carpet as her eyes filled with tears…she hated to cry, but this time, she couldn't control herself.

"When I was in college, I met this girl…Lily…she was my roommate in the dorms. She became my good friend…my best friend back then…she was the only one who understood all the crazy drama that was going on in my family…she was the only one who listened to me…one day, I came to the dorms after a party, and she was…she had…" She stopped while soft tears ran down her eyes. Aaron squeezed her hand and wiped her eyes.

"You blamed yourself for it." It wasn't a question.

"I never even knew she was depressed. I would have helped her. I would have been there. I just think if I had been a better friend." She really didn't want to talk about it, she had never shared this with anyone…ever.

"It wouldn't have mattered Emily…it wasn't your fault what happened to Lily. There is nothing you could have done. …Just as today it wasn't your fault"

Emily nodded, and he pulled her into his arms comforting her. After a while, she pulled away, and he wiped her eyes again.

"So, how much trouble am I in?" She asked, laughing nervously.

"Emily, what you did today, as brave and amazing as it was, it goes against protocol and everything that we stand for." Emily nodded looking down.

"If this happens again, you will be suspended, am I clear?" Emily nodded, afraid to look her lover in the eyes. Right now, he wasn't her lover though, right now he was her boss, Aaron Hotchner.

"Yes Sir I am so sorry." Emily said tiredly.

Aaron tilted her chin to make her look at him and smiled gently at her, and she knew he was no longer her boss, he was her lover who was looking at her gently and in an affectionate way.

"I know what you did it Em...I understand I would have done the same..."-he finally admitted looking softly at her. Emily nodded looking down as he finally her for another hug. Holding her tightly against him for a very long time. Until they finally pulled away.

"I'm sorry about Haley, and I'm sorry about what I said about the money. I know what she's doing, Em, and as angry as it makes me, I can't risk losing it with her and jeopardizing my case for Jack's custody." He said, looking at her.

"I know, Aaron, I'm sorry, too, I'm sorry I walked out like that. I just…I wish she would leave you alone, she's done enough damage. I know I have no right to get mad about this...I have no right to barge in your problems with her "

"Baby, if we let her actions affect us, we're never going to make this work. We knew it was going to be hard, especially with her. We just have to be smarter than her."

"I know, I'm really sorry. I love you, and I just want the best for you and Jack." She said, lacing their fingers together.

"I love you, too, Emily, you have changed my life in so many ways. Just give me time to make everything right, and I promise you, baby, that this will be whatever we want it to be." She nodded, smiling at him and leaning down to kiss him.

"Will you stay with me?" She asked, with pleading eyes.

"Of course, baby, let's take you to bed...you need to rest is been a long day ." He smiled, helping her off the sofa. He smiled contently, pulling her into his arms, happy to know they had overcome their first fight; however, he knew this would not stop here. There would be a lot more battles to fight. Hopefully, she was willing to fight those battles with him and knowing Haley, things were about to get worse…this was just the beginning.


	9. Chapter 9

Save Me

Chapter 9: Doubt

Things had been better between Emily and Aaron, for the last couple of months, but deep inside Emily couldn't stop herself from doubting their relationship. She loved him, of that she was sure, but as much as she hated doing so, deep inside she was always waiting for that call…Haley calling back and asking for forgiveness and saying she wanted him back, then Aaron breaking up with her and telling her everything had been a mistake between them. She knew deep inside her that since Aaron had a child with Haley he had all the reason in the world to go back and try to fix things with his ex-wife. It really stung her because she had fallen madly in love with him like she had not done with anyone before.

It was her own fault anyway, because she had given herself fully to him, like she had not done so with any man before…she had given him her body, her soul, her heart, and even her mind. She didn't even think it was possible to love so much until she met him, but she also knew it was too good to be true, there had to be a catch to it. Aaron kept telling her he loved her, and it was her whom he wanted to spend the rest of his days with, but she wasn't stupid, most men are said to just take a woman to bed, and although she didn't really think Aaron was that kind of man, she also knew he wasn't ready for another marriage after he had just gotten divorced. She also knew that Jack was the most important thing in the world for him, and she was convinced that if Haley asked him to come back and try things again for Jack he probably would.

The thing was that Haley had become a very sensitive issue in their relationship; she had already caused several fights between them. While Emily was absolutely convinced that she was intentionally causing those fights, Aaron was trying to maintain a civil relationship with his ex-wife, and he kept saying that the only reason he wanted peace with Haley was because Jack's custody was still not settled in the courts. Emily didn't really want to press the issue any more, she didn't want to be that kind of woman anymore; they had only been dating for maybe six months now, and she didn't think she had any rights to tell him anything else about his life with his ex-wife, or about Jack's situation with the blonde woman, and the few times she had tried to say something, they had ended up in a fight. She had decided it was best to keep her opinions to her self and let him deal with his own issues as they came up, although deep inside her, she was afraid he would leave and go back to Haley.

It was a gorgeous afternoon outside, and the team had gotten out for lunch together. They had tried to finish most of their cases before they left, but had not done so, but Dave had decided it would be nice anyway for the entire team to go out and have lunch together. They ended up going to lunch at a fancy sushi restaurant, and the food had been quite amazing. It had been a while since the team had laughed so much. After they finished lunch, that Dave, of course, had paid for, the team headed back to the BAU in two SUV's ready to finish their files and go home for the weekend. After both vehicles parked in the FBI garage, the team made their way back to the BAU, taking the elevator, all the while joking around.

"Thankfully, I only have six more files to finish and then I can go home and forget that this place exists." Emily joked.

"Six! How do you have six files, I have like eighteen!" Spencer complained.

"What can I say, I'm a better profiler and a better case writer." Emily smiled, shrugging her arms.

"I think she might had slipped you some of her files, genius boy." Derek teased. Spencer looked at Emily horrified.

"What? How could you, Emily?"

"Oh my God, Spencer, I did not, are you really going to believe him? It's Morgan!" Emily defended, as the elevator doors opened, and they steeped into the bullpen laughing at Spencer's face. Everyone stopped in their tracks when they saw the former Mrs. Hotchner waiting by the bullpen, looking very upset.

"Haley, how are you doing?" Dave smiled nicely.

"Hello, Dave, how are you? She responded coldly.

"Aaron is actually in a meeting with Strauss, I'm not sure how long it will take him, is this an emergency?" Dave said politely.

"It's okay, Dave, I think I can wait." Haley said, glaring at Emily with hatred. Dave noticed immediately and turned to look at Emily. He had no idea what was going on.

"Is something going on?" Dave asked worriedly.

"Umm, I don't know, why don't you ask Agent Prentiss." Haley spat, fuming. Emily had no idea what was going on, but she did not want to have that conversation in front of the team since they didn't know about their relationship yet.

"What is going on, Emily?" Derek asked concerned.

"I don't know, but I really don't think this is the time or the place, Haley." Emily said politely.

"Oh, please give me a break, don't act like you have some decency when we both know you don't." The blonde woman spit.

"Haley, please…" Emily warned.

"What is going on here?" JJ stepped in between Haley and Emily.

"What is going on, Agent Jareau, is that this whore has been sleeping with my husband for the past six months, in fact, she is the reason that we divorced in the first place!" Haley spoke before anyone could stop her.

"Now, that is bullshit and you know it, and just what the hell is your problem?" Emily finally exploded.

"Hey whoa…whoa…stop!" Morgan stopped Emily from going any further.

"Haley, I really think you should have this conversation somewhere else with Aaron, somewhere more appropriate." Dave suggested, as the entire team watched aghast at the two women.

"Well, I think this is just the perfect place, after all, here is where he picked up this tramp."

"Haley, enough!" Dave warned before Emily could defend herself.

"I'm pregnant." She dropped.

"What?" Everyone spoke at once, in shock.

"I'm pregnant, and Aaron is the father, that's why I'm here, because we need to talk about that." Haley told Dave. Emily just looked at her in shock.

"What! Are you surprised, Agent Prentiss? You didn't think he cared about you, did you? After all, you were just an adventure for him, didn't he tell you we talked about getting back together last month? When we met to talk about Jack, we've been working things out, and as you see, it worked…I'm pregnant again." Haley continued her speech in front of the team.

"I'm done with this, Haley, excuse me, please." Emily said, walking away from everyone and stepping out of the bullpen.

"I don't think that was necessary, Haley." Dave reprimanded.

"Well, it was about time you all found out what kind of whore she was. I think I'll wait for Aaron in his office, thanks." She said, going into the Unit Chief Office.

"What the hell was that all about!?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know, but you better get back to work and mind your own business, everyone back to work." Dave said angrily, going after Emily.

He found her in the garage inside her car crying. He tapped on the window, and Emily just shook her head, but he tapped again, and she rolled down the window.

"I'm not in the mood for any of your shit, Rossi." She bit out angrily.

"I just thought you might need these." He said, handing her coat and messenger bag to her that she had left in the BAU. Emily nodded opening the car lock, which Rossi took as an indication to get in, he walked around the car and hopped in the passenger seat.

"Do you need anything?" He asked gently, placing her belongings on the back seat of the car.

"Yeah, I need to disappear from this freaking country." She said, as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Em, if it helps, I don't think she is telling the truth." Dave said, gently squeezing her hand.

"Does it really matter after how she humiliated me in front of everyone?" She cried.

"Emily, Haley is a very evil person, you more than anyone should know that, especially with everything that she did to Aaron. I really think you should talk to Aaron." Dave said gently.

"The last thing I want to do right now is see Aaron." Emily said, as more tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Em, he is going to want to talk to you."

"Right now, I need time, I don't think I can do this anymore." She confessed.

"Okay, I will make some arrangements for you to take a few weeks off." Emily nodded, wiping her eyes.

"Thank you, Dave."

"Call me if you need anything, please." He kissed her cheek and got out of the car watching her drive away.


	10. Chapter 10

Save Me

Chapter 10: Life-Death Decisions

Hotch was in his office after his meeting with Strauss, he was very tired and his head was pounding…all he wanted to do was go home and curl up on the couch with his Emily and watch movies for the rest of the weekend. He just had a few more files to work on and then he could go home. He started working on organizing some paperwork and cases and separating the files he was going to take home for the weekend and was concentrating on the files on his desk when Dave stepped in leaning on the door frame gently.

"So, you're still here?" David asked quietly.

"Yeah, I just have to organize these case files…see where we are heading next."

"I see, so I take it that Haley left." He said, looking around.

"Yeah, she came over to talk about Jack; she wants to take him somewhere for the summer and she wanted my permission to do that, plus we have a parents' conference next week at school." Aaron responded with his eyes on the files.

"And that was all she wanted, she didn't tell you anything else?" Dave asked, feeling anger overtake him.

"No, anything else like what?" Aaron asked, confused.

"About being pregnant?" David finally dropped the bomb.

What!? Haley is pregnant! What are you talking about?" Aaron asked in shock. It was then when Dave realized Haley was lying. He stepped inside Aaron's office closing the door.

"Goddammit, Aaron, what are you getting yourself into!?" Dave said, staring at his friend angrily.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Aaron asked, more confused than ever.

"Do you have any idea the scene Haley pulled off this afternoon?" Dave asked, irritated.

What? What happened…when?

"She called Emily a whore in front of the entire team and the entire bullpen. She accused her of breaking up your marriage, and she told Emily she was pregnant with your child."

"Oh no! I can't believe this! How could she do something like that? He said furiously, the first thing that came into his mind was his girlfriend.

"Emily, where is Emily?" He asked, all of a sudden rushing out of the office.

"Stop, Aaron, she's gone." Dave said calmly.

"Gone? Gone where? I need to talk with her, I need to explain, I need to go home." Aaron said, rushing to pick up his briefcase. Dave could tell Aaron was beyond mad.

"Aaron stop, please…Emily is not at home!"

"What? Where is she, then, I need to see her; please tell me where she is?" He barked at Dave.

"Not now, Aaron, Emily needs space. Emily is also taking two weeks off from work, I've already spoken to Strauss."

"Dave, this is bullshit, you need to tell me where she is. I didn't do anything…Haley is lying, she is not pregnant…at least, not with my child. Please, I just need to see Emily. You don't understand…" Aaron said desperately, and Dave could see Aaron really loved her.

"Aaron stop, I know Haley is lying, but you need to understand that right now Emily needs space, she doesn't want to see you. Now, I'm your friend, and I want to help you, but I need you to understand you need to give her the space she wants, at least for a few days…she is very upset." Dave explained again.

"This is not fair, I swear to God, I'm going to kill Haley. How could she do this Dave…I mean why? She cheated on me and treated me like shit, and now that I've found someone who loves me for who I am and who rescued me from the dark hole I was in, she is ruining everything for me. I can't lose Emily, Dave, I can't." He said, banging his fist on his desk angrily.

"Aaron, calm down, you won't lose her if you listen to me. I know how badly you want to go after her and see her, but I really don't think it's a good idea right now. Just give Emily a few days, and then go talk to her. I'm sure she would be more willing to listen to you once she has calmed down." Dave reasoned.

"I love her, Dave, more than I ever loved anyone. I can't lose Emily, I just can't." He said, sitting on the couch in his office.

"You know, I have never seen you like this, about anyone." Dave said, staring at him intensely…he truly had never seen him so in love with someone before.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, we just couldn't for her own safety." He said, looking down.

"I understand, you don't have to explain, I'm just surprised, that's all."

"She didn't cause our divorce…we didn't start anything until after I found out Haley had cheated on me. Emily…she saved me, Dave…I was dead inside. She just changed it all, she became my everything. I know it's wrong, and she's my subordinate, but…I love her…I just do." He said sadly.

"You will get her back, if you really love each other, and trust me, I saw it in her eyes, she loves you the same way. You will work things out…just give her a few days, then go talk to her."

"Where is she?" He asked, worried.

"If I tell you, do you promise that you won't go there until a few days have passed?" Dave asked.

"I swear."

"She's at my cabin in Alexandria." Dave said, smiling. Aaron nodded sadly, at least she was safe.

A few days later, Aaron realized he had had enough, he had given Emily about five days, but he couldn't sleep, or think straight. Hell, he couldn't even concentrate on work, so he decided he needed to go there and face her and talk to her. So, he found himself driving to Alexandria one afternoon right after work. He arrived at Dave's cabin and parked his car, slowly getting out and going toward the front door ringing the bell.

Emily was sitting on the couch reading "The Grapes of Wrath" when she heard the doorbell ring…her heart started beating almost instantly. She knew very well who it was, he had tried calling her phone but, she had been ignoring his calls. She didn't want to talk to him yet; okay, maybe Haley was lying about the entire pregnancy story, but she knew that this would never stop. She was afraid their life together would always be like this. Haley would always be in their life, no matter what. The doorbell ran again, and she sighed, rising from the couch and walking toward the front door. She opened the door slowly without looking to see who it was.

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked solemnly.

"We need to talk." Aaron fought the urge to pull her into his arms.

"I don't really want to talk, Aaron…I just…"

"Please Em, I'm begging you, just please listen to me." He pleaded. Emily sighed and moved out of the way so he could come in. He followed her into the living room.

"Emily, I'm so sorry about what Haley did, I know it was wrong, and I'm very sorry." He said, looking at her sadly. Emily just looked away from him, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

"She is not pregnant, Em, and if she is, it's not mine. I swear on my love for Jack…I swear to you that I've never disrespected you, ever."

"I know she's lying, Aaron; I'm not stupid." Emily finally spoke.

"Then, you believe me when I tell you that I didn't cheat on you, that this is just another one of her games."

"I know it's another one of her games, and that's exactly why I can't do this anymore."

"Emily, please…baby."

"Did you know for months that I've waited for that call?" Emily asked, walking toward the window.

"What call?" He asked, confused.

"Haley telling you that she was sorry and wanted you back…you breaking up with me and telling me everything had been a mistake, and you were going back to your family." Tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"No, no, baby, no, I'm never getting back with her, I love you, Em, I want to be with you.' Aaron tried pulling her into his arms, but she pushed him away.

"No, Aaron, I don't think I can do this anymore." Emily cried.

"Emily, please, Haley is a very evil and manipulating person, we can't let her win. I promise you that she is gone from our lives, Em."

"She can't be gone from our lives, Aaron, she's the mother of your son…she'll always be in your life."

"But, not like that, Emily. I love you, I fell in love with you. I need you to understand that, please, Emily, don't let her get between us…I'm begging you."

"It will never stop, Aaron, she'll always do these manipulations, and I don't know if I can put myself through this anymore. It really hurts." She said, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I wont let her, Emily, I swear that she won't come between us anymore. I promise you, please baby, I don't want to lose you." He begged, but she shook her head.

"Please, please, don't do this…don't break up with me…I can't be without you, Emily. I just can't, I don't know how to…" Now, it was Aaron who had tears in his eyes.

"I need time, Aaron." Emily said, pushing him away again. He looked at her sadly.

"How much time?"

"I don't know, but right now I can't make a decision, and if you really love me the way you say you do, then please give me space." Aaron felt like he had been stabbed, it hurt so badly, he wanted to cry.

"Em, please…"

"Aaron, if you don't want this to be over, then please, I'm begging you to give me time."

"Okay, I just need you to know that I love you more than anything." He said, as another tear rolled down his cheek. Emily nodded and walked toward the door and opened it so he could leave.

Aaron knew he had no choice but to leave, he couldn't push her anymore; Emily was very angry and hurt, and she was about to break up with him. He just hoped that things would work out because if Emily really did end up breaking up with him, he was going to die.


	11. Chapter 11

Save Me

Chapter 11: Route 66

A week after Emily had asked Aaron for a break, she had not yet returned to work; in fact, she had asked for an additional week off. Since she never took any time, or even vacation days, Strauss accepted her request almost immediately. Emily realized she needed more time to think about the situation since she wasn't sure she wanted to be back with Aaron any more…she did love him more than she had ever loved any man, but she was hurting deeply, and she didn't think Haley's schemes would ever stop, and because of that, she was not sure she could live with that any longer.

Aaron has hurting deeply, too, he knew inside Emily was going to break up with him, it was just a matter of time. The fact that she had taken an additional week off was giving him all the answers he needed to know that he was about to lose the brunette, and it pained him greatly. He hadn't been sleeping lately and his migraines had been intensifying, as well as the pain in his chest. He wasn't sure if it was the pain of Emily being gone because every now and then he got a sharp pain in his chest after Foyet stabbed him, but it didn't compare to what he was feeling now. 

The team was about to go into another case where a sixteen-year-old girl had been abducted from her house about eight hours ago, and they were running out of time; the team needed to head to Wichita, Kansas. They had reason to believe she had been abducted by her father who was an ex-convict. The team was briefing in the conference room knowing they needed to rush to the jet and save the girl, but there were details they really needed to discuss.

"He has been in and out of jail since he was a kid, but he hasn't been in jail in three years so why take her yesterday?" Rossi said, looking at the pictures.

"Revenge on the mother maybe?" JJ suggested.

"She has been missing for eight hours already, and we know how sensitive these cases are…um…" Hotch started, but he stopped, grabbing his chest as he felt a sharp pain hit his chest, and he was unable to breath.

"Every hour is..." He tried, but was unable to continue, as he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

"Aaron..." Dave cried, terrified.

"Hotch! The rest of the team tried to call to him, but Hotch was completely unconscious.

"Garcia, call 911 for an ambulance!" Dave shouted, feeling for Aaron's pulse.

"Yes sir, right away." She responded with tears in her eyes.

In a matter of minutes, the room filled with chaos and panic; the ambulance arrived just a few minutes later to pick their boss up, who still had not responded.

"Okay, go ahead and take the jet to Wichita…I'll meet you guys down there." Dave ordered.

"But Rossi..."

"Morgan, there is a sixteen-year-old girl missing. Aaron is being rushed to the hospital, now go!" Dave ordered. JJ, Reid and Morgan all hesitated, but did as Dave asked.

Dave and Garcia followed the ambulance to the hospital, and when they arrived there the paramedics explained that the Unit Chief was bleeding internally and he needed emergency surgery or he wasn't going to make it. Apparently, all the stab wounds Foyet had inflicted, had damaged him after all, and he was bleeding from all the scar tissue that had torn apart internally from the stab wounds. Dave called the team and informed them what was going on with Aaron, so they could relax a little, but Dave knew he also needed to fly to Wichita and meet the team. They couldn't really solve the case with only three team members working on it.

"Garcia, I'm going to go meet the team in a few hours. They need me, and I'll also need you to go back to Quantico and work from there." Dave ordered.

"But what about Hotch?" Garcia said, horrified…almost crying.

"He would want us to focus on the case, and I'm calling Emily." Dave stated. Garcia just looked at him without knowing what to say; by now, everyone knew about Hotch and Emily, thanks to Haley.

"She would want to know, trust me, go back to Quantico. I'll stay until Emily gets here, then I'll go meet the team." Dave told Garcia, who nodded, and after Dave assured her for the 100th time Hotch would be okay, she finally left.

Emily was in Dave's cabin making a cup of coffee and reading a book; she was really enjoying her time off. She missed Aaron like crazy, but she knew that things would never change with Haley, and she wasn't sure if her heart could take anymore heartbreaks. She was working on her stirring her when her cellphone rang, and it was Dave. At first, she wasn't sure she should answer, but since she was staying at his cabin, and she also knew he was just wanting to check on her, she clicked on the answer bottom.

"Hey, Dave." She said, sipping on her coffee.

"Hey Em, how you feeling?" Dave started nervously,

"A lot better, thanks, is everything ok?" Emily could tell immediately something was wrong by his tone.

"Listen Em, something has happened." Emily immediately felt the knot in her stomach start to build.

"What do you mean?"

"It's Aaron…he…um…collapsed during briefing today…and the doctors said he is bleeding internally…they are not sure; he is in surgery right now."

"Oh my God, wh…whe…where…are you?" Emily asked, shaking with tears already threatening in her voice.

"George Washington Memorial. Listen, Em, we have a case, and I have to go meet the team; they're already on the way...a sixteen-year-old girl is missing..."

"Okay, I'll be down as soon as I can." Emily hung up the phone as tears rolled down her face. For a minute, she couldn't even think straight.

She ran to get her purse and keys and rushed to her car, driving as fast as she could to the hospital. The only thing on her mind the entire drive there was seeing him. She felt so guilty about pushing him away, about taking this stupid break. The worse scenarios started running through her head, what if something happened to him, and she never got to tell him how much she did love him, she should have talked to him sooner, she shouldn't have taken another stupid week off. What if this had all been her fault...she drove there with tears rolling down her face the entire time. She just prayed that she still had a chance to see him again, to speak to him again, because if something did happen to him she would never forgive herself.

She finally arrived at the hospital and parked in a hurry, rushing down to the emergency entrance, and as soon as she saw Dave in the waiting area she ran in that direction.

"Hey, I'm so sorry it took me a while to get here." Emily said, as tears formed in her eyes again. Dave smiled pulling her into his arms as she sobbed.

"What happened?" She asked after a while, when she pulled away wiping her eyes.

"They think it's the stab wounds, he's bleeding internally from all the scar tissue, it doesn't look good." Dave said, watching as more tears rolled down her face.

"I want to see him, please, can I see him?" She begged, crying.

"Not now, Bella." Dave shook his head.

"But I need to see him, he needs to know Dave." Emily sobbed, and Dave pulled her in for a hug again.

"You need to calm down, please, everything will be fine…he is so strong."

"If something happens, I will never forgive myself, ever."

"Emily, this is not your fault, whatever was going on with you two has nothing to do with his...okay...now please, please, I'm begging you to calm down, so I can leave with the team, they really need me."

"Okay, go, I'll be okay." Emily said, wiping her eyes again.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go. I'll call you as soon as I know something." Emily said, smiling sadly. Dave nodded and pulled her down for another hug and kissed her cheek, then he disappeared behind the doors.

Emily sat there in the hospital chairs as tears started to roll down her face again, she just prayed to God Aaron made it okay out of surgery, because she didn't think she would be able to survive if something happened to him.


	12. Chapter 12

Save Me

Chapter 12

Emily was sitting in the cold, hard chair inside the recovery room Aaron had been brought to about eight hours ago. He had not woken up yet, whether it was from the effects of the surgery, or the heavy drugs he was on, but he had not opened his eyes, and it was killing her inside. She had been at the emergency room since the night before, after Rossi called her, and she didn't want to move until she knew for sure that he was going to be fine. She knew he had been rushed to the operating room because he was bleeding internally, and he had to have emergency surgery. She also knew there was some complications during the procedure, and he had gone into ventricular fibrillation, and they almost lost him on the table. Emily almost had a panic attack when they told her that, but thankfully the doctors were able to stabilize him and save him, and now they were just waiting for him to wake up. She had been crying silently nonstop since she had arrived at the hospital…she literally blamed herself for this. She knew she should have not taken any time away from him, she had punished him unfairly, and now he was here because of her. She just prayed to God that He gave her the chance to tell him how much he really meant to her life and how important he was to her. She also had something very important to tell him, and she needed to see those beautiful eyes again so she could tell him.

Aaron opened his eyes slowly and tried to focus on the image in front of him; he was quite dizzy and groggy and had no idea what was going on. He blinked a few times and he was aware of the beeping monitor near him, but he had no idea were he was, it was then that Emily was aware he had just woken up.

"Oh God…honey…" She cried slowly, getting up from her seat and coming closer to him.

"You are okay…you are awake." She gasped, as tears rolled down her face.

"What happened?" He asked, in a sharp voice.

"You collapsed during the briefing, and they rushed you here…the doctors said you were bleeding internally from Foyet's stab wounds…and…and." But she wasn't able to continue as she choked on her own tears. Aaron wrapped his arm around her carefully and pulled her closer to him as she sobbed quietly on his chest.

"I was so scared, but you are fine…they said you will recover completely…there were some complications, but you're fine now." She cried on his chest as he felt her tears soaking his robe.

"It's okay, baby, I'm fine." He said, running his hand through her hair soothingly.

"I was so scared, Aaron, this is all my fault. I'm so sorry I left…and I wasn't talking to you, this is all my fault, please forgive me." She cried.

"Don't say that, Em…this is not your fault, baby…I should be the one apologizing." Aaron said, pulling her closer to him. Emily finally sat up on the bed to give him some room and noticed there were tears on his face as well hers, and she wiped them gently.

"I wanted to be mad at you, I wanted to hate you and just get you of my mind, but I couldn't, I can't…I just love you so much…I really do." She cried again, as tears rolled down her face, the two agents were unaware that Haley had just stepped into the room with Jack, because Garcia had called her, and she was stepping in the door frame looking at them speechless.

"I love you, too, Emily, you are everything to me." She leaned down to hug him again gently, and he closed his eyes pulling her close and inhaling her sweet intoxicating fragrance.

"I need to ask you something." He said, with his eyes closed.

"Anything you want, what is it?" Emily asked without moving from his embrace.

"Look at me." He ordered gently, and they pulled away from each other just a little, both of them with tears in their eyes.

"I know this is not the time or the moment, but I don't want to waste any more time." He said, as a tear rolled down his face.

"What do you mean?" She tenderly ran her thumb over his eyes to wipe away the tears.

"Marry me." Aaron said breathlessly.

"What!?" She was officially in shock.

"Marry me, Em, I know this isn't the magical proposal you dreamed of, but I love you more than anything in this world, and I know it's you who I want to spend the rest of my life with, I just know that you…have…"

"Yes!" She cut him off, crying and smiling at him. He stopped to look at her to make sure he had heard right.

"Yes, I'll marry you, I love you, too, Aaron more than life itself." She pulled him to her for a hug again, and they remained there for a few seconds until Jack broke the silence.

"Daddy, are you okay?" He asked, scared. Both agents separated and looked up to the door. Standing there was Haley, who looked like she had just been stabbed, and Jack who immediately ran into his father's arms.

"Hey, buddy." Aaron said, sitting up slowly and awkwardly and opening his arms for the young boy. Emily stood up immediately smiling at the young boy, but she could feel the look of hatred coming from the former Mrs. Hotchner.

"I'm going to talk to the doctors and let them know you're awake." Emily said, stepping out of the room to give Aaron some privacy with his son.

She went outside the room and notified his doctor that he was awake and seemed to be doing fairly well. The doctor told her he would send a nurse to check him and have her run a regular check of his vital signs, and that if his test results were good, he should be able to go home in a few days, and with a huge smile, Emily headed to the cafeteria to get some coffee hopefully until Haley and Jack left. She didn't really want to be anywhere near her.

Unfortunately, her plan didn't work the way she wanted it to, since the former Mrs. Hotchner took advantage of the opportunity while Aaron was being checked by the nurses and Jack had demanded to stay with him, something the nurses couldn't oppose. Haley went after Emily with a plan in mind…she finally found the brunette sitting at table in the cafeteria. She approached her silently, and Emily was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice her until she started talking to her.

"You must be very happy, Agent Prentiss, but you are very naïve if you think your fairy tale finally came true." Haley said, with poison in her eyes…Emily looked up and smirked when she saw Haley.

"What do you want Haley?" She asked, annoyed.

"You would never make him happy, you aren't good enough for him." Haley said evilly.

"You know, Haley, I really don't understand what is wrong with you, but obviously something is really messed up in that head of yours." Emily said politely.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You were married to him for almost two decades and yet you treated him like crap and cheated on him as many times as you could, and now that he is finally happy with someone who truly loves him, you're trying to ruin that for him. Why do you hate him so much that you can't accept the fact that he is finally happy and truly in love?" Emily said, standing up from the table.

"He won't marry you, I know he won't, he will realize what a tramp you are and that marriage will never happen." She spat.

"Actually, I think that now, more than ever, this will work, especially with the new circumstances." Emily responded, smirking at her.

"What are you talking about?" Haley asked, glaring at Emily.

You might have lied about being pregnant with his baby to make us break up, however, I'm going to give him a child." Emily said, touching her stomach. Haley got very pale all of a sudden.

"You're lying!"

"No, Haley, I'm not. I don't need to make up a lie to keep a man by my side, he proposed to me without even knowing I'm pregnant with his baby." Emily slowly opened her bag and pulled out a sonogram picture. She had found out she was pregnant a few days ago, but she had not told him yet, but now more than ever she knew she had to. "Here, you can keep this, I have a few more. That is Aaron's baby growing inside me." Emily said handing her the sonogram picture and watching as Haley's face dropped to the floor.

"No matter what you do, you won't come between us ever again. Now more than ever, now, if you excuse me, I have to get back to see my "Fiancé", and with that, Emily left the cafeteria leaving Haley shaking mad and dumbfounded, looking at the sonogram picture Emily had given her, which had the agent's name and dated a few days back.


	13. Chapter 13

Save Me

Chapter 13: The Godfather

 ** _A/N_**

 ** _Hello everyone again:_**

 ** _I am sooooo very sorry it has been such a long time since I have updated any of my stories. First, I had my graduation, and it was a hell of a ride with my finals then I had so much anxiety coming at the end of the semester that it was almost impossible for me to finish any of my stories and focus on graduating. Then, I went on a short vacation to Florida with my family, and I do have to tell you I had the awesome pleasure of meeting our amazing friend and editor, SouthunLady. Too often, online friends never get to meet, but we did and it was amazing for both of us. Without her, these stories would not be possible, and I cannot express how grateful I am for her friendship over the past two years. Meeting her has definitely been a blessing because I never imagined I would ever meet her in person, but I finally did in May...that was a little graduation present as well._**

 ** _Anyway, after that, I got very sick and it's been very difficult for me to focus enough to write, or even to focus on many things in my daily life...so, I do apologize to you, my faithful readers, for not posting sooner. I'm still feeling a little ill, so it may take me longer to post chapters, but I will try harder to finish these stories sooner, and I do appreciate your patience._**

 ** _Here we go again.._**

Emily returned to the room and watched as Aaron interacted with Jack; he seemed so peaceful and happy that it almost made her cry. She was so grateful that he was fine now because she had thought she had lost him, but now, he was fine and everything was perfect.

"Emily!" Jack squealed, seeing the brunette, running into her arms.

"Hey buddy." She smiled, hugging the boy tightly and kissing his forehead.

"Is daddy going to be okay?" Jack asked worriedly, even at his young age he knew that his daddy was ill.

"Yes, honey, everything will be fine, don't worry." Emily said, ruffling his blonde hair. Just at that moment, Haley walked back into the room. Haley hated the way Jack interacted with the brunette.

"Jack, we're leaving." Haley scolded.

"But, mommy, I want to stay with daddy." Jack cried.

"I know, but we have to leave." She said, walking into the room and taking Jack almost by force and turning to look at Aaron.

"I hope you feel better, Aaron." Then, she gave Emily a scalding look and just like that, she rushed Jack out of the room as Jack cried that he wanted to stay with his a daddy. Emily just rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"Is everything okay?" Aaron asked, confused, looking at the door his ex-wife just walked out of.

"Yeah, everything is fine, honey." Emily lied, sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Emily?" Aaron said in his Unit Chief voice, knowing what that did to her. Emily exhaled and looked away from him, and he grabbed her hand making her look at him.

"What happened?" He asked in a more severe tone.

"She heard you proposing to me." Emily said, looking into her lover's eyes.

"I figured that much, so, Em, I don't care if she knows; I've already told you she'll never get between us again." Aaron reassured her, but he was still confused.

"I know that, it's just...she came and confronted me at the cafeteria."

"What!?" What did she say?

"It doesn't matter." Emily told him, caressing his face.

"Okay then, why is she so upset? He asked, raising his eyebrows. That actually brought a small smile to her face making him even more confused.

"There's something I have to tell you." Emily said, looking down at him.

"Okay, is it something I'm not going to like? Aaron asked, concerned, and she shook her head.

"Well, I don't know, I'm not even sure how I feel about it myself yet." Emily said, blushing slightly.

"What is it, Em?" Aaron asked, feeling a knot in his stomach.

"I'm pregnant." Emily said, before she could stop the words.

"What! Are you serious? He asked in shock.

Yeah, and I know this is totally out of the blue, and I also know I told you I was taking care of myself, and I was...I promise you I was, I don't even know how this happened, well, I do know how this happen, obviously, and I wasn't trying to trick you into this but, I swear I was on the pill, Aaron, and I don't even know how this happened, and I know this wasn't in our plans, but...wait! You're smiling, why are you smiling?" Emily asked suddenly when she saw the huge grin on his face.

"Good Lord, baby, take a breath." He said, holding her face in his hands. "I'm smiling because you just made me the happiest man in the world." He said, pressing a kiss on her lips.

"So, you're okay with this?' She asked shyly.

"Are you kidding?" Woman, I just proposed to you less than an hour ago. Why wouldn't I want a baby with you? He said as his eyes filled with tears.

"I don't know it's just all so soon; we weren't ready for any of it, both marriage or a baby." Emily said scared.

"We have barely been together for a year." She pointed out as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Okay, that's true, but you love me, and I love you more than I ever loved anyone in this world; maybe yes, we have moved a little faster than most people have, but who cares, Emily. We didn't plan this, but I love you with all my heart, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you; I want you to bear my children...I want it all with you...maybe this happened for a reason." Aaron said, placing his hand on her stomach gently. Emily's eyes filled with tears and she kissed him.

"I love you so much." She said, deepening the kiss.

"I love you, too, sweetheart." They were interrupted by Dave.

"Sorry to interrupt the reconciliation. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and to inform you we solved the case, the girl is home safely with her mother." Dave announced, walking in.

"Thank you, Dave."

"I take it that you feel better?" He teased, as Emily's cheeks turned crimson.

"I'm feeling better, thanks, Dave."

"So, is there anything you two want to share with me?" Dave asked the couple, Aaron just laughed, knowing that Dave was too good of a profiler to read into his eyes. Aaron looked at Emily who just rolled her eyes knowing there was no point in hiding it from Dave either.

"Mmm, I asked Emily to marry me, and she said yes." Aaron said from his bed, taking Emily's hand and linking their fingers. .

"You're pregnant." Dave said in shock, and they knew it wasn't a question. Emily's mouth just dropped; she knew he was a great profiler, but this was too much.

"That is ..not ..the reason he proposed, but...mmm...yeahhhh...mmm, kind of..." Emily said, stammering.

"Kind of?" Dave said, raising his eyebrows at her.

Emily just turned to look at Aaron, who just smiled at her.

"I told you he was too good."

"You can't tell anyone on the team yet, please, please, Dave?" Emily begged.

"Hey, don't take me for a snitch, but just so you know, it's not like you're going to be able to hide that for very long, besides they already know you guys are together, so, what's the big deal?" Dave teased.

"I know, we'll tell the team after everything that has happened, we just need some time for ourselves." Emily said, sitting down on the edge of Aaron's bed.

And they technically had gotten back together, gotten engaged and found out they were having a baby, all on the same day. It was a lot to digest. Emily was happy, of course, she loved Aaron more than she had ever loved anyone in her life. She wanted this more than anything. Her fairy tale was finally coming true. She was going to have his baby and marry him, but they still had a lot to deal with before they could get to the happy ending.

They still had to deal with his psycho ex-wife, and Strauss, him getting out of the hospital and recovering, and on top of that, they still needed to talk about the reason why they had broken up in the first place. They had to officially admit their relationship to the team and tell them they were engaged and also expecting a baby and make professional decisions about their jobs, since one of them would eventually have to give up their positions, knowing that when they married, they couldn't work together any longer. There was just so much to still work on, it wasn't going to be easy.

"Fine, I won't say anything under one condition." Dave demanded. They both looked at each other and then at Dave.

"What?" Emily asked, skeptically.

"That I get to be the godfather of the baby."

"Oh God, I can already see you spoiling my child rotten." Emily said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, it's my condition, lady." Dave said, shrugging his arms, teasing them.

Emily turned to look at Aaron, who nodded smiling at her.

"Fine, but if my kid turns out to be a brat, I swear I will kill you, David Rossi!" Emily spat.

They all laughed, and Dave walked into the room congratulating both of the future parents and the engaged couple.


	14. Chapter 14

Save Me

Chapter 14: Family Nights

It had been a couple of weeks since Aaron had been released from the hospital, and he was feeling a lot better. He still hadn't returned to work, even though he really wanted to, but Dave insisted he needed more than just a few weeks off, and Emily immediately refused to let him out of the house. Aaron was so grateful for how amazing Emily had been to him since he had been released; she had basically split herself into two to be there for him, to go to work, and making him realize that he might have fallen a little bit more in love with her. He finished dressing and walked back downstairs where Emily was supposed to be waiting for him. They were supposed to be heading to Dave's house for a spaghetti night with the team. He was going to take the opportunity to tell the team that she was pregnant, and they were going to be married.

"Are you ready, sweetheart?" Aaron asked, as he made it to the living room where the brunette sat lost in thought. She was wearing a purple dress, and she looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

"Maybe we should stay here tonight." Emily responded, looking out the window; Aaron just arched his eyebrows and walked to her, pulling her up by her hand gently to bring her into his arms.

"Why? Are you okay?" He asked, making eye contact with her.

"Yeah, I'm just…I don't know…nervous. What if they don't accept this, you know, us being together and all." Emily said, looking at him sadly. Aaron almost chuckled at her cute face, but he held it in because he knew it might piss her off more.

"Love, what are you talking about? They already know we're together technically." Aaron responded, running a finger over her cheeks tenderly.

"Yes, because your ex humiliated me in front of them." Then, she extracted herself from their embrace and walked away from him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put it like that." She apologized quickly, but Aaron just smiled, walking back to her and pulling her back into his arms more firmly.

"Hey, what's going on with you?" He asked gently, looking into her eyes and tilting her chin.

"Nothing, I'm sorry." She responded, closing her eyes.

"Stop apologizing, okay!" Aaron told her, looking into her eyes.

"I love you more than anything in this world, you're going to be my wife and the mother of my child." Aaron said sweetly, holding her close, running his thumb over her cheek.

"The team will be happy for us, Em, they're our friends, and they want us to be happy." Aaron told her, pressing his lips against hers gently.

"I know, I'm just a little scared, I think, after what Haley did." She confessed, and he smiled and laced their hands together.

"Don't be, baby, I love you, and everything is going to be fine." He placed another kiss on her forehead.

"Come on, let's go." He said gently, and after they grabbed their coats, they headed for the door.

They arrived at Dave's house to find the rest of the team was already there. Dave greeted them at the door taking their coats. Dave kissed Emily's cheeks and gave Aaron a warm hug; he was the only one on the team that knew the news so far.

Emily headed for the kitchen where she found Penelope and JJ chatting amicably while Aaron and Dave stayed in the living room.

"Hey you, there you are!" Penelope said cheerfully, enveloping her in a hug.

"I've been missing you a lot lately, you've been distancing yourself, missy." Penelope said, looking at Emily almost with tears in her eyes.

"I know, there's just been a lot going on. I'm sorry." Emily responded, sympathetically.

"No, don't worry, I know that I just really miss my friend, you know." Finally, a tear escaped Penelope's eye, and Emily pulled her in for another hug.

"Oh honey, you know I'm always here." They pulled away after a while, and she finally turned to JJ who looked about to burst into tears any minute as well; no words were necessary, the friends just hugged and remained there for a long time. They knew they loved each other, despite the time they had spent apart from each other.

"I'm sorry about everything, guys...about not telling you." Emily finally said, hopping on one of the stools.

"Its fine, I get it." JJ responded, doing the same. "I mean, dating your boss is a big deal, but we wouldn't have judged you, Em." The blonde said, running her hand over the brunette's arm.

"Yeah, Em, we're your friends, and you deserve to be happy, and so does he, after everything he's been through and what that bitch has put him through." Penelope agreed, refilling her and JJ's wine and getting a glass for Emily's wine.

"I'm actually not drinking, P, but I will take some hot tea." Emily told her, pushing the wine glass away as both of her friends turned to look at her in shock.

"I'm just not feeling very well. With Aaron being in the hospital, it's been terrible for my nerves." Emily lied quickly because she wanted to wait until they told the rest of the team.

"Oh, you poor thing, you have been splitting yourself in two for the past two weeks." Penelope smiled, rubbing Emily's back while JJ headed to the stove to put on the tea kettle.

The three friends spent the first hour talking and catching up until dinner started; Emily smiled lightly as she watched Derek grinning and tossing pieces of bread at Spencer who seemed very annoyed, but somehow, it still made her smile. They always managed to get on her nerves, and right now, she couldn't help but smile as she watched the two agents play at the table like two kids. Dave was near them talking to Penelope, Emily and JJ, and the girls burst out laughing at something Dave said, and it made the smile on Emily's face even wider.

This was her family, it always had been; Aaron reached beneath the table and squeezed her hand gently, and she turned to look at him smiling as Aaron leaned forward and captured her mouth in a kiss. It was a gentle kiss, but then it turned passionate, and Emily forgot everything else and just focused on him; when they pulled away, the rest of the team was looking at them with wide eyes but smiled nonetheless. Emily blushed and Aaron just laughed kissing her check.

"Well, it's not like we didn't know anything, guys." Derek teased.

"Yeah, you guys aren't really the best at keeping secrets." Spencer agreed, reaching for his glass of wine.

Aaron smiled, squeezing Emily's hand tighter, and then he cleared his throat.

"I know that we should have told you before, guys...we're a family, everyone in here is a part of our family and trust me when I say we wanted to tell you." Emily remained quiet for a bit, wanting Aaron to do the talking first.

"The truth is, things happened very fast and before either of us were sure of what was going on. After my divorce with Haley, I honestly thought my life would fall apart, but I never realized that my life with Haley was over long before we ended our marriage.

"I think most of you know me as the hard, stoic Aaron Hotchner, who never smiles and if it hadn't been for Emily, I would probably have broken a long time ago." Emily turned to look at him with her eyes glowing.

"She changed my life and my world, she showed me what true love was and she basically saved me from the hole I was in." He said, gently looking at her as tears rolled down her cheeks. Then, he stood up from his chair and reached into his coat pocket.

"I've already asked her this at the hospital and she said yes, but I thought that tonight would be the perfect opportunity to do it again formally in front of everyone." Before anyone could say anything, Aaron knelt in front of Emily with a black velvet box revealing a five carat princess cut diamond ring with smaller diamonds circling the band.

"Emily Prentiss, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Aaron could hear the girls giggling and gasping, and the boys in the background say something, but he focused on the woman in front of him whose eyes were sparkling and shining.

"Yes." Emily responded, as tears rolled down her cheeks, Aaron slid the ring onto her finger and pulled her into his arms hugging her tightly to him, kissing her neck and breathing her intoxicating fragrance.

"I love you so much, baby."

"I love you, too." Emily replied, as they pulled away, and he wiped her tears. The team clapped and cheered. happy for them, and they gathered to congratulate them and hug their friends. Even if they hadn't told them about their relationship, they were happy for them; the team knew they deserved the best, they knew what Aaron had gone through with his ex-wife and how much he had suffered, they also knew Emily was amazing and how happy she had made him over the past eight months. They just wanted their best friends to be happy.

After dinner, the team gathered together in the den quietly drinking, talking and laughing. They were having such a great time, and everyone was a little tipsy, except Emily. They were just very happy about their friends' news, and they wanted to enjoy every minute of it, it wasn't very often that they had time to enjoy themselves like this. Emily was sitting on one of the couches snuggled against Aaron who was drinking from a glass of whisky listening to Reid talk about an astrophysics joke.

"Okay, Dr. Reid, enough of your craziness for today, let's make a toast to the newly- engaged couple." JJ suggested.

"Yeah, I second that." Derek replied, bringing the bottle of scotch and refilling everyone's glass.

"Are you sure you don't want at least a glass of wine, Em?" Penelope asked, arching her eyebrows at Emily.

"Yeah, Em, come on, we're celebrating your engagement, don't be such a stick-in-the-mud." JJ whined, and Emily just smiled at her.

"Actually no, technically, I got proposed to two weeks ago, he just gave me the ring today." Emily corrected, smiling at them and showing them the sparkling ring on her finger as everyone laughed.

"Yeah, whatever, stop showing off, come on…just one glass Em," JJ said, again almost pleading, and Emily turned to look at Aaron, who just smiled, nodding at her in an encouraging way.

"I can't drink." Emily finally said.

"What do you mean 'you can't drink'?" Derek questioned, confused.

"Well, I'm...I'm pregnant." Emily finally said, looking at her friends.

"Oh my God, Emily." JJ immediately rushed over to her, pulling her in for a hug.

"Are you serious, and when were you planning to tell us...when the kid went to college?" Penelope teased.

"Well, by high school graduation, for sure." Emily smiled, hugging them.

"Oh my God, congratulations, I'm so happy for you!" Penelope cried while she placed her hand on her belly.

The rest of the night was spent talking about their plans for the wedding and who got to spoil the unborn baby the most; Emily just rolled her eyes as Aaron laughed, pulling her in for a hug. When they arrived back to their house, Emily hung up her coat and placed her purse by the counter, and Aaron came from behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck.

"I told you everything was going to be okay." He whispered gently as Emily leaned into his touch while his hands roamed against her body. Then, he turned her around to face him kissing her passionately.

"So, Agent Prentiss, do you think we can go upstairs and finish making this baby?" He whispered into her ear sexily.

"I don't know, Agent Hotchner, you just got out of the hospital, I'm not sure you should be doing anything strenuous just yet." Emily responded sexily, although he could see the fire in her eyes.

"Who said anything about strenuous...plus, you could always be on top, Agent Prentiss." He said, winking at her. Emily just burst out laughing while Aaron undid the zipper of her dress, and they headed for the stairs.


	15. Chapter 15

Save Me

 **Final Chapter: Happiness is Choice**

 _ **Okay, my friends and readers, first of all, thanks for your patience and all the wonderful reviews. Thank you as well for all those amazing people who offered to edit my stories and be a beta for me. My editor and I decided to give it another shot since we received many reviews from you guys asking us to not stop the stories. I want to tell you how grateful I am for all the support and wonderful people who have encouraged me to continue writing and keep going with this site. When I first started writing, I never thought I would get this far with my writing, and now, well, here we are with this many stories and this many followers and fans, and it almost makes me cry. Thank you so much, guys, for all your support and love and because of that, I decided to continue with the stories and give it another chance so here we go...**_

 _ **This is the final chapter for Save Me, but remember that we have three more stories on the go, and I have something cooking in the oven for you, so keep reviewing…and thanks again for your amazing love and support.**_

Emily laid in bed late one afternoon as she caressed her big round belly; her husband walked in the door coming home from work and walked inside the bedroom placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Hi, pretty baby." Aaron said as he kissed his wife's lips, then he leaned down to kiss her belly. How is my baby boy doing in there?" He asked, sitting in front of Emily.

"He has been a little hyper today, actually moving a lot." Emily caressed her belly again as she felt her son kick again, grimacing from the pain.

"So, how was your meeting with Strauss?" Emily asked her husband, looking at him smiling.

"Actually, good, I mean, after you left this morning, I assumed things were going to be very nasty, but she didn't say anything, really." Aaron responded, looking at his wife intently.

They had gotten married a few months ago, but it had been a very discreet wedding, mainly because Emily didn't want the attention, and because she was already pregnant. It had been just the BAU team in attendance at the courthouse wedding, and afterwards, the team had a celebratory dinner, then Aaron and Emily headed to Florida for a few nights. Nothing big…Emily had never been big on parties, and she didn't want anyone to know about their marriage yet.

Technically, them being married and working together went against the fraternization rules at work, one reason why Emily had kept her last name at first, but that was not how they really wanted things to go. Aaron was a gentleman, and he wanted her to have his last name and wanted to scream to the world that she was his wife, and that he loved her. They were able to keep it a secret for a while until Emily became too large and had begun to show, and she had to take maternity leave, which she refused to do. Aaron was basically so mad at her for her stubbornness that they ended up having a fight at work, and that was how Strauss found out he was the father. There was no reason to deny it, and he wasn't about to do so, and both agents finally admitted to Strauss that they were married since Emily was close to her ninth month anyway. Emily finally decided she would just take her maternity leave earlier and tell Strauss to just let her leave early, so she had met with Strauss that morning, before Aaron's meeting with her.

"Emily, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be totally honest with me." Her husband told her, and Emily knew what was coming, so she just looked into her husband's eyes.

"Okay."

"What happened in Strauss's office this morning? Why didn't she say anything to me?" Emily looked away from her husband's intense stare for a second, but he placed a finger on her chin, firmly making her look at him.

"Em?" He questioned again, raising his eyebrows at her.

"I resigned today."

"You did what!" Aaron asked in shock, looking at his wife.

"Aaron, just listen, okay? Don't be mad, please." Emily said, taking his hands.

"I'm going to be gone for a while with the baby anyway, and after that, I don't know if I'm going to want to come back and chase serial killers." She said sincerely.

"I don't want you to lose your job over this, over us, it means so much more to you. You have worked so hard to get where you are." Emily said gently.

"Em, that's not true." Aaron said, shaking his head.

"Yes, it is."

"Right now, my priority is my son…and you, of course, but not the BAU. I can get another job, maybe I will teach at the Academy, or at some other position...who knows, maybe I would like to stay home and be a wife and mother." She said, looking at him.

"Yeah, right, I'll give you two months before you go crazy in the house with only a baby to talk with."

"Three months." She replied, laughing, as Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Baby, I didn't want you to give up your job." Aaron insisted again.

"But, that was my decision, Aaron, and I need you to respect it, please." She replied, looking at him seriously.

"I love you so much, you know that?" He said, leaning down to kiss her lips. Aaron knew deep inside the only reason Emily had quit her job was so he wouldn't get in trouble.

"I love you, too, Aaron, now, are you going to help me pick a name? We're running out of time, daddy." Emily said, picking up the baby name book from the night stand as Aaron sat next to her, cuddling her close.

"Oh right! We need to do that, why is this so hard?" He questioned, as both parents read through the baby book name.

"Zachary?" Aaron read.

"Umm, I don't know, it sounds weird."

"Rocco?"

"Eww, that sounds like a stripper name." Emily made a horrified face, and Aaron laughed at her.

"Casper?"

"Please tell me your kidding!"

"Oh, I know…Nemo!"

"Aaron, be serious, please, we're naming our kid here!" Emily slapped his arm playfully.

"What! Nemo was a cute dwarf." He smiled at her, but Emily turned to look at him in shock.

"Nemo wasn't a dwarf, Aaron, Nemo was a fish, and you aren't naming our kid after a fish!"

"Oh, that's right, sorry, how about Dopey then?" He winked at her, but Emily grabbed the pillow to hit him with it and attempted to get up from the bed.

"You know what, forget it! I'm done, I'm not picking names with you!" She said, annoyed, rolling her eyes at him.

"Oh, come back here, love, I'm just playing with you." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down on the bed making her lie down and hovered over her as far as her belly allowed him to do. Emily laughed, as he tried to tickle her, and he smiled at her showing his deep dimples.

"I missed you today, Mrs. Hotchner." He said, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss which she returned hungrily.

"Are you eager for me, Mrs. Hotchner?" He asked with a grin.

"I'm always eager for you, Mr. Hotchner." Emily said, reaching down to his pants and unbuckling his belt, even though she was almost nine months pregnant, she was always so horny. They made love slowly because Aaron knew she was more sensitive, and he didn't want to hurt her, but their orgasms were just as amazing as always. Later that night, they were spooning on the bed as Aaron's large arms hugged her huge round belly, and he kissed her neck sweetly.

"What do you think of Sebastian?" Aaron asked, murmuring in her ear.

"Seriously?" Emily smiled widely.

"Yeah, it's one of the names you highlighted, and I liked it, too, so why not Sebastian Hotchner? It sounds nice." Aaron added, pressing a kiss on her back.

"I like it, too, it's beautiful."

"Okay, then Sebastian, it is." He smiled, pressing a kiss to her temple and snuggling close to her.

They fell asleep in each other's arms; Emily had never been so happy in her entire life…she didn't remember ever feeling this much happiness. She fell asleep almost instantly until she awoke a few hours later trying to remember what had woken her, but then realization hit her as she sat up in bed. She couldn't have peed herself, and then she realized it wasn't pee.

"Oh God!" She panicked, and Aaron instantly woke up.

"What is it, honey?" He sat up immediately next to her.

"My water, I think it broke, it's all over the bed, oh God!" Emily cried, so embarrassed.

"It's okay, it's okay, baby." He was on his feet in two seconds flat, dressing.

Emily remained in bed, embarrassed about the mattress and herself.

"Aaron, the mattress…I'm so sorry." She felt tears rolling down her face.

"Baby, forget about the mattress, we have to get you to the hospital. You have to get dressed, okay?" Aaron came to her, gently helping her off the bed.

She started dressing just as a painful contraction hit her stomach, and she bent over from the pain; Aaron rushed to help her into a pair of pants and a sweatshirt, then he helped her outside and into the car.

"It's okay, love, everything is going to be fine." Aaron held her hand as he drove to the hospital as fast as he could.

"It just hurts so much." Emily cried out as another contraction hit her.

"I know, sweetheart, just hold on a little longer, please, we're almost there, baby."

"They made it through the emergency ramp, and Aaron called one of the nurses as they helped Emily onto one of the gurneys as Aaron rushed after them. Half an hour later, the doctors had settled Emily into the labor room with the epidural, and Aaron was by her side as two other nurses checked her pulse and her IV.

"Are you feeling okay, love?" Aaron asked as he kissed her forehead. Emily just nodded as another contraction hit her body. They were still painful, but the epidural had definitely helped a lot.

"I'm okay." She held onto his hand a little tighter as she watched the clock…it was two in the morning, and it was two weeks before her due date.

"Well, looks like your son wanted to make his appearance a little early. I think he is going to be a little stubborn." Emily said, smiling dopily.

"Yeah, I think he's going to be exactly like his mother." Aaron teased, leaning down to press a kiss on her lips.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" She asked, offended.

"That he'll be just as beautiful as you, my love." Aaron laughed.

"Yeah, nice save, be thankful I don't have my glock here, Agent Hotchner." Emily said, giving him a severe look, but he just laughed, kissing her again.

Eight hours later, the doctors gathered around Emily as Aaron held her hand tightly, she was sweating, and she didn't think she could take the pain anymore.

"Come on, Emily, one more push…you can do this." Dr. Hall said in an encouraging way, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"No, no, I can't do this, please." Emily cried in pain.

"Just one more push, baby, please, just one more." Aaron whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead.

"Oh God...uggggggh..." Emily cried out in pain as she felt her body split in pain, and she felt like she was going to pass out; a few seconds later, she felt more liquid coming down from her inner part and the baby coming out. Then she heard the wailing from her son coming into the world, and she couldn't help it as fresh tears rolled down her cheek.

"Is he alright, is he okay?" She asked, turning to look at Aaron since she could hardly see anything from the position she was lying in.

"He's fine, he's just perfect." Aaron smiled, as the nurses cleaned the baby, and a few minutes later, they came and placed the baby in Emily's arms. Aaron watched as her eyes filled with tears again.

"He's so beautiful and perfect." She cried, as she kissed the infant's head while tears rolled down her cheeks; Aaron came over and pulled both of them into his arms.

"I know he's perfect, thank you, Em, for this gift, for saving me and making me the happiest man in the world." Aaron said in a cracked voice, and Emily turned up to see the tears in his eyes.

"I love you so much, you know that, don't you?" She smiled at him, kissing his lips.

"I love you, too, sweetheart, more than anything." Then their eyes landed on their new baby boy again.

"Hello, Sebastian, welcome to the world, this is your mommy and daddy." Emily said, gently whispering into his ear, and the little infant sneezed making both of them laugh.

"I have to call Jack and the team to let them know." Aaron told Emily, smiling.

"Not yet, I want you to stay here and share this moment with me for a while longer." Emily said, with tears in her eyes, and Aaron smiled, sitting back on the bed and hugging her to him, as their new baby boy rested peacefully in his mother's arms.

"I love you more than life itself, Emily." Aaron told her, enjoying the gift she had just given him.

"I love you, too, Aaron, even more than that." Emily said, as she turned to kiss his cheek, and then her eyes were back on her baby boy.

Fini.


End file.
